Mumbai: The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex today once again fell short of the 20,000 mark even after wiping out a 219-point intra-day loss, helped by buying in metal, realty and banking stocks.
Continued appreciation in the rupee after a series of steps by the RBI and hopes of a peaceful resolution to the Syrian crisis helped the recovery, which came a day after the index's biggest gain in more than four years.
The rupee traded close to the 63.30 level in the afternoon.
The Sensex resumed stable and climbed to 20,055.53 only to fall to 19,777.63 in the absence of triggers from global stocks and on profit-selling after yesterday's 727-point rise.
It bounced back to close at 19,997.45, a 0.36-point gain, failing to hold above the 20,000 mark for the second day.
“After a strong momentum on back of strengthening rupee and FII buying, along with positive global cues, we expect the market to consolidate at higher levels,” said Rakesh Goyal, senior vice president at Bonanza Portfolio Ltd. “In this week, inflation and IIP numbers shall be coming and market is likely to witness high volatility.”
The broader Nifty index on the National Stock Exchange ended higher by 16.40 points, or 0.28 per cent, at 5,913.15. The SX40 index on the MCX-SX closed at 11,838.59, down 11.07 points or 0.09 per cent.
Sensex gainers included State Bank of India, HDFC Bank and Sun Pharma, which contributed 49 points, while ITC, Tata Motors and Infosys dragged the measure lower by 74 points.
Brokers said bank stocks rose on hopes of a rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India next week even as investors played it safe ahead of industrial production and inflation data.
Tata Steel gained 5.07 per cent and Hindalco Industries rose 3.81 per cent.
Shares in the PSU, capital goods and pharma segments too were in demand.
Tata Motors fell 2.49 per cent and Hindustan Unilever dropped 1.76 per cent.
FMCG, consumer durables and IT stocks fell out of favour.
Foreign institutional investors bought shares worth a net Rs 2,563.60 crore yesterday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
