The Sensex and the Nifty ended slightly higher on Thursday as derivatives expiry, a long weekend and the central bank's credit policy meeting next week deterred investors from building large positions.
The Sensex ended at 25,863.50, up 40.51 points or 0.16 per cent. It moved in a range of 25,949.90 and 25,670.96.
Similarly, the 50-share NSE index Nifty ended up 22.55 points or 0.29 per cent at 7,868.50.
Among BSE sectoral indices, IT index was the star-performer and was up 2.02 per cent, followed by consumer durables 1.98 per cent, TECk 1.59 per cent and FMCG 0.98 per cent. On the other hand, metal index was down 1.37 per cent, followed by capital goods 1.13 per cent, PSU 0.96 per cent and oil & gas 0.76 per cent.
Top five Sensex gainers were Lupin (+3.55%), GAIL (+2.51%), Infosys (+2.22%), Bajaj Auto (+1.91%) and ITC (+1.88%), while the major losers were ONGC (-3.71%), Coal India (-2.79%), Tata Steel (-2.58%), L&T (-2.25%) and Tata Motors (-2.11%).
Rate cut
The Reserve Bank of India is likely to cut interest rates for the fourth time this year at a policy review on September 29, as falling energy prices have cooled inflation and the economy has slowed, a Reuters poll showed.
Domestic shares see-sawed between minor gains and losses with Thursday marking the expiry of September futures and options contracts, and traders churning positions.
"Because of the long weekend, the market is not building any further volumes of the positions today," Deven Choksey, managing director at KR Choksey Securities, said.
Indian markets will be shut on Friday for a local holiday.
Brokers' comment
A report by SMC Global said: "Asian shares got off to a cautious start today after more dour economic news in China and the United States prompted a bruising selloff the previous day. Wall Street also lost ground on Wednesday, dragged down by economic reports portraying US factory growth as tepid and China in its worst manufacturing contraction since the global financial crisis.
The European Central Bank needs more time to determine whether the downside risks to euro area growth call for an increase in asset purchases, the bank's President Mario Draghi said. In his introductory remarks at a hearing in the European Parliament in Brussels, Draghi said,'More time is needed to determine in particular whether the loss of growth momentum in emerging markets is of a temporary or permanent nature and to assess the driving forces behind the drop in the international price of commodities and behind the recent episodes of severe financial turbulence."
Global markets
World shares fell for the fifth day running on Thursday, sliding back towards two-year lows on growing unease about global growth, while emerging markets continued to gnaw at investor confidence.
A 2.2 per cent tumble for Tokyo’s Nikkei as Japan returned from an extended break set the tone in Asia, while some encouraging German and French data and a 6 per cent bounce in Volkswagen shares helped Europe’s FTSEurofirst claw back into positive territory after a shaky start.
Asian shares got off to a cautious start on Thursday after more dour economic news in China and the United States prompted a bruising selloff the previous day.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up a touch in early trade after having posted their biggest single-day fall in almost a month the previous day.