Sensex, Nifty end rangebound session higher

The Indian equity benchmarks edged higher in a rangebound session marking second straight session of gains on Tuesday. The Sensex moved in a band of 285 points and Nifty 50 index touched an intraday high of 25,441.65 and low of 25,352.25. The markets traded in a tight range as gains in Bharti Airtel, Larsen & Toubro, ICICI Bank , Mahindra & Mahindra and NTPC were offset with losses in ITC, Tata Motors, HDFC Bank , Adani Ports and Tata Steel.

The Sensex ended 91 points higher at 83,080 and Nifty 50 index advanced 35 points to close at 25,419.

European stocks rose on Tuesday, supported by financials, as markets drew closer to an expected start to the US Federal Reserve's monetary easing cycle that could see policymakers deliver an outsized rate reduction.

The continent-wide STOXX 600 index was up 0.6 per cent at 518.16 points, as of 12:43 pm, while Britain's FTSE 100 outperformed its European peers with a 0.7 per cent jump.

All sectors were trading higher, led by a nearly 1 per cent gain in financials and a 0.8 per cent jump in banking shares.

Back home, eight of 13 major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended higher led by the Nifty Consumer Durables index's 0.43 per cent gain. Nifty Realty, FMCG and Auto indices also rose between 0.2-0.4 per cent.

On the other hand, mid- and small-cap shares underperformed their larger peers as Nifty Midcap 100 index fell 0.2 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index slipped 0.4 per cent.

Hero MotoCorp was top Nifty gainer, the stock rose per cent to close at Rs 5,964. Bajaj Auto, Bharti Airtel, NTPC, Mahindra & Mahindra, Britannia Industries, ONGC , Kotak Mahindra Bank and Larsen & Toubro also rose between 0.65-2 per cent.

On the flipside, Tata Motors, Coal India, Tata Steel, Eicher Motors, Adani Ports, JSW Steel , Bharat Petroleum, Asian Paints and Divi's Labs were among the losers.

The overall market breadth was negative as 2,237 shares ended higher while 1,712 closed lower on the BSE. 

(With Reuters inputs)