Market benchmarks managed closed in the green on Tuesday after five sessions of steep losses as investors accumulated recently-battered banking, auto and FMCG counters amid a supportive trend in European equities.
However, traders said the overall sentiment remains cautious ahead of a crucial two-day meeting of the US Federal Reserve where it will take a call on its rate hike trajectory.
Russia-Ukraine tensions, stubborn inflation and unabated selling by foreign funds are the other risk factors in the near-term, they added. After plunging below the 57,000-level in opening trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex gained momentum as the session progressed to finish 366.64 points or 0.64 per cent higher at 57,858.15.
Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty rose 128.85 points or 0.75 per cent to close at 17,277.95.
Maruti topped the Sensex gainers' chart with a jump of 6.88 per cent after the country's largest carmaker posted a consolidated net profit at Rs 1,041.8 crore for the December quarter -- down 48 per cent y-o-y but well above analyst estimates. Axis Bank, SBI, IndusInd Bank, Bharti Airtel, PowerGrid and NTPC were among the other prominent gainers, spurting as much as 6.76 per cent. In contrast, Wipro, Bajaj Finserv, Titan, Infosys, Tech Mahindra and UltraTech Cement led the laggards list, shedding up to 1.75 per cent.
"After a week-long consolidation, domestic indices took a breather supported by low-level buying. Western markets also supported, staging recovery following correction in oil markets, and as uncertainties over Fed policy and geopolitical tensions eased.
"However, volatility is expected to linger as investors await the Fed's final policy statement, providing clarity on the timeline of rate hikes,'' said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said, "Markets will react to the Fed meeting outcome in early trade on Thursday and we expect volatility to remain high, thanks to the scheduled monthly expiry. Keeping in mind the scenario, we reiterate our cautious view and suggest preferring hedged positions."
Barring IT and consumer durables, all BSE sectoral indices mustered gains. Telecom climbed 2.46 per cent, followed by utilities, power, auto, bankex and realty. In the broader markets, the BSE midcap and small cap indices advanced up to 1.03 per cent.