Indian equity benchmarks see-sawed between gains and losses on Tuesday and extended their winning streak for the fifth straight session, despite weak global sentiments.
The 30 stock S&P BSE Sensex ended a touch higher, with a marginal gain of 20.86 points, or 0.04 per cent, at 58,136.36. The broader Nifty 50 of the National Stock Exchange was up 5.40 points, or 0.03 per cent, to close out Tuesday at 17,345.45.
The Sensex and the Nifty started the day in the red but went through a choppy trading session.
Both the indexes were down as much as 0.6 per cent earlier in the day but saw a recovery in the final hours of the session on positive cues from the Indian rupee, which strengthened to 78.49 per dollar, its highest level since June 28.
"One of the main factors for a rebound is the rupee up move. A 40 paisa appreciation in a day doesn't happen very often so even though the global markets are down, the rupee has really helped the market," Samrat Dasgupta, chief executive officer at Esquire Capital Investment Advisors, told Reuters.
Among the Sensex index, shares of IndusInd Bank, Asian Paints, NTPC, Maruti, Hindustan Unilever, State Bank of India, Mahindra & Mahindra and Power Grid were among the biggest gainers.
IndusInd Bank surged 2.59 per cent to Rs 1067.85. Asian Paints soared 2.18 per cent to Rs 3396.05. Maruti Suzuki surged 1.81 per cent to Rs 9167.
NTPC, Kotak Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Power Grid Corporation, State Bank of India and Mahindra & Mahindra were among the major Sensex gainers.
The index heavyweight Reliance Industries Limited closed 0.31 per cent higher at Rs 2583.10.
Private banks and IT stocks witnessed selling pressure.
Tech Mahindra, HDFC, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Steel and HDFC Bank were the biggest laggards.
Tech Mahindra slumped 1.63 per cent to Rs 1032.50. HDFC dipped 1.30 per cent to Rs 2351.10. L&T dipped 1.20 per cent to Rs 1792.50.
Other major Sensex losers included Tata Steel, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank Dr Reddy's Laboratories and Infosys.
"Global indicators did not favour bulls, with most Asian and Western markets trading lower over concerns of rising geopolitical tension between the US and China. Additionally, economic data point to a decrease in demand; major markets worldwide are trading with recessionary fears," Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, told PTI.
The domestic market, however, has proven resilient thanks to increased demand in heavyweights and a strengthening Indian rupee underpinned by falling US treasury yields and FII buying, Mr Nair added.
On the other hand, world stocks slipped, and bond yields fell on Tuesday, compounding fears of a global recession and concern that a visit by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan would further harm relations between China and the United States.
Investors sought safer assets after China threatened repercussions if Ms Pelosi visited the self-ruled island, which Beijing claims as its territory. China has repeatedly warned against Pelosi going to Taiwan. Washington said on Monday it would not be intimidated by China.
MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 47 countries, fell 0.4 per cent. The broad Euro STOXX 600 shed 0.7 per cent before clawing back some of its losses.
Futures gauges showed that Wall Street stocks were set to fall around 0.7 per cent.
"It's all about the Taiwan threat," said Robert Alster, chief investment officer at Close Brothers Asset Management. "There's no way you can say it's not moved up to geopolitical agenda."
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares retreated 1.3 per cent. Taiwan's stock index dropped as much as 1.9 per cent, while Chinese blue chips tumbled 2.5 per cent before making up some of their losses.
Brent futures ended at $99.55 a barrel after losing almost $4 overnight. US West Texas Intermediate futures also eased to $93.59, extending Monday's almost $5 slide.
Looking ahead, traders will turn focus to the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) monetary policy decision on interest rates on Friday.
With inflation at multi-year highs, the RBI's monetary policy committee is seen raising rates, though the views on the quantum of increase were split wide between 25 basis points and 50 basis points, a Reuters poll of economists showed.
In domestic trading, the Nifty's public sector bank index and energy index closed 2.68 per cent and 1.09 per cent higher, respectively, while the IT index fell 0.67 per cent.
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