The benchmark indices erased their morning losses and traded higher during midday on Tuesday due to gains in the fast-moving-consumer-goods companies and Reliance Industries Ltd.
At 11:49 a.m., the NSE Nifty 50 was trading 17 points or 0.08% higher at 21,436.05, while the S&P BSE Sensex was 96 points or 0.14% up at 71,411.43.
"The markets are poised to maintain a sideways trajectory over the next few days, a trend commonly observed in the latter half of December, characterised by a reduction in trading volumes," Shrey Jain, chief executive officer of SAS Online, said.
"Equity indices remained stagnant or in (the) negative territory on Tuesday, indicating a probable continuation of consolidation in the coming days," Jain said. "From a technical perspective, the Nifty is anticipated to consolidate within the range of 21,200 to 21,500."
RIL, ITC Ltd., Nestle India Ltd., Axis Bank Ltd. and Hindustan Unilever Ltd., contributed the most to the gains in the Nifty.
Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Infosys Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd., HCL Technologies Ltd. and Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone Ltd. weighed on the index.
Nine sectoral indices on the NSE advanced, with Nifty FMCG and Energy gaining more than 1%. Five indices fell, with IT falling the most.
The BSE MidCap was down 0.21%, while the SmallCap was 0.26% higher. Ten out of the 20 sectors compiled by BSE advanced, with Energy rising the most.
The market breadth was skewed in the favour of the buyers. As many as 1,934 stocks rose, 1,697 declined and 159 remained unchanged on the BSE.
Comprehensive Budget 2026 coverage, LIVE TV analysis, Stock Market and Industry reactions, Income Tax changes and Latest News on NDTV Profit.
