Closing Bell: Markets end flat on Tuesday; Rupee strengthens by 30 paise

In a day that saw many ups and downs, Indian equity benchmarks see-sawed between gains and losses on Tuesday and marginally extended their winning streak for the fifth straight session, despite weak global sentiments.

Nifty remained rangebound during the day as the index remained within the bands of 17200 and 17400. On the daily chart, the index has maintained its uptrend.

Meanwhile, the senses managed to cloase 21 points higher, ending the day at 58,136.

Domestic equities slipped as oil prices extended losses from the previous session, heightening investor fears of a recession due to weak manufacturing data in China, Europe and the United States.

Meanwhile, India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told parliament on Monday the country will not slip into recession or stagflation, after opposition parties raised concerns about rising inflation and its impact on the economy.

Most Asian and Western markets were down over concerns of rising geopolitical tension between the US and China. Additionally, as economic data points to a decrease in demand, major markets throughout the world are trading with recessionary fears in mind.

The Indian rupee ended 31 paise higher at 78.71 per dollar against previous close of 79.02. The domestic market, however, has proven resilient thanks to increased demand in heavyweights and a strengthening Indian rupee underpinned by falling US treasury yields & FIIs buying.

In other news, India’s biggest ever auction of telecom spectrum received a record Rs 1.5 lakh crore of bids, with Mukesh Ambani’s Jio cornering nearly half of all the airwaves sold with a Rs 88,078 crore bid.

Telecom tycoon Sunil Bharti Mittal’s Bharti Airtel made a successful bid of Rs 43,084 crore, while Vodafone Idea bought spectrum for Rs 18,799 crore.

record proceeds from the auction – the highest compared to the previous seven rounds since 2010 – will help shore up the government’s finances at a time when India’s fiscal deficit – the gap between revenues and expenditure – is expected to hit 6.4%.

Analysts estimate that India’s Department of Telecommunications will receive $1.6bn upfront over the next 20 years.

The government is expected to finish allocating airwaves by August and start rolling out 5G services in early October this year.