The Nifty may move sideways with a negative bias in the range of 5,060 to 5,155

The volatile market settled higher on hopes that the prime minister, who has kept the finance portfolio, will create a path for economic reforms. On a higher volume of 53.36 crore on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the Nifty managed to close in the positive after a range-bound session. We may now see the index moving sideways with a negative bias in the range of 5,060 to 5,155.

The market opened in the green on positive cues from the Asian markets which were trading higher following gains in the US indices overnight on optimistic data on home prices. However, European concerns capped the gains. The Nifty opened 28 points up at 5,149 and the Sensex started the day at 16,976, a gain of 69 points over its previous close.

Buying in banking, technology, power and metal stocks supported early gains. The indices were in the positive till the noon session on hopes that the prime minister, who has decided to keep the finance portfolio, will take steps to speed up reforms.

The market hit its intraday high shortly after 1.00pm as the key European markets opened in the green. At the highs, the Nifty went up to 5,610 and the Sensex scaled 17,029.

However, the indices came off the highs on selling pressure in auto and oil & gas sectors amid volatile trade. The benchmarks fell to their lows in post-noon trade with the Nifty going back to 5,129 and the Sensex dipping to 16,931.

Select buying in the last hour helped the market close off the day's high. The Nifty settled 21 points up at 5,142 and the Sensex edged 61 points up at 16,968.

The advance-decline ratio on the NSE was in favour of the gainers at 904:706.

Among the broader indices, the BSE Mid-cap index gained 0.36% and the BSE Small-cap index advanced 0.32%.

The top gainers in the sectoral space were BSE Metal (up 1.55%); BSE Power (up 1.03%); BSE IT (up 0.94%); BSE TECk (up 0.77%) and BSE Healthcare (up 0.52%); BSE Auto (down 0.77%); BSE Consumer Durables (down 0.54%) and BSE Oil & Gas (down 0.08%) were the losers.

The key gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel (up 2.51%); Tata Power (up 2.25%); Sterlite Industries (up 1.79%); Sun Pharma (up 1.34%) and Hindalco Industries (up 1.30%). The top losers on the index were Tata Motors (down 3.06%); Bharti Airtel (down 0.42%); Wipro (down 0.37%); Mahindra & Mahindra (down 0.25%) and State Bank of India (down 0.13%).

Top two A Group gainers on the BSE were-Manappuram Finance (up9.77%) and United Breweries (up 6.49%).
Top two A Group losers on the BSE were-Andhra Bank (down 7.10%) and Tata Motors (down 3.06%).

Top two B Group gainers on the BSE were-HBL Power and Sheetal Diamonds (up 20% each).
Top two B Group losers on the BSE were- GSL Nova Petrochemicals (down 10.56%) and Bhagawati Gas (down 10.10%).

The Nifty was led by Sesa Goa (up 3.66%); IDFC (up 3.41%); Tata Steel (up 2.53%); Tata Power (up 2.45%) and HCL Technologies (up 1.96%). Tata Motors (down 3.16%); Cairn India (down 1.40%); Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 1.37%); ACC (down 1.35%) and Jaiprakash Associates (down 0.57%) settled at the bottom of the index.

Markets in Asia closed mostly in the positive on speculations that China would announce new initiatives to spur growth. Positive economic data from the US on Tuesday also supported investor sentiment.

The Hang Seng climbed 1.03%; the Jakarta Composite surged 1.38%; the KLSE Composite gained 0.49%; the Nikkei 225 advanced 0.77%; the Straits Times rose 1.28% and the Taiwan Weighted settled 0.63% higher. Bucking the trend, the Shanghai Composite fell by 0.23% and the KOSPI Composite shed 0.01%.

At the time of writing, the key European indices pared early gains and were up between 0.17% and 0.42% on nervousness ahead of the European leaders' summit on 28th and 29th June. On the other hand, US stocks futures were mixed.

Back home, foreign institutional investors were net buyers of shares totalling Rs13.03 crore on Tuesday whereas domestic institutional investors were net sellers of equities amounting to Rs355.05 crore.

Amara Raja Batteries is in advanced stage of negotiations with a clutch of two-wheeler manufacturers for supplies of batteries, according to an equity research report. The company is confident of starting supplies by July-August. The stock declined 0.55% to close at Rs297.30 on the NSE.

Videocon Industries today said it expects to finalise a deal to sell 40% stake in its consumer electronics goods retail chain Next by this Diwali. The company is in talks with three European firms and two US firms which are in the same business as Next Retail. The stock shed 0.15% to close at Rs169.20 on the NSE.