Small and midcap indices down for second straight day

Mumbai, Feb 29: Nifty swung between gains and losses on Thursday amid the monthly expiry.

The index finally closed with gains of 32 points at 21,983 levels, said Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Retail Research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

Broader markets witnessed the brunt of SEBI’s cautious stance on the midcap and smallcap funds. Both the indices were down for the second consecutive day, Khemka said.

Sector-wise, it was a mixed bag with buying seen in banking, financials, and metals.

Recent global economic data releases pushed investors back after a rally that was seen recently, he said.

Further, the US Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, personal consumption expenditures (PCE) due on Thursday holds key importance from an interest rate perspective.

Markets will also react to India’s Q3 GDP data to be released later on Thursday.

The auto sector is expected to be in focus as monthly sales numbers will be published over the weekend, Khemka added.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said the domestic benchmark traded near a flat-line trend throughout the session, but some buoyancy emerged by the end of the day.

Investors adopted a cautious wait & watch approach on the verge of a heavy economic data week. India's Q3 GDP has a moderate outlook on a QoQ basis.

The US personal consumption expenditure (PCE) price index is due to provide a clue on the future interest rate cut path while China’s PMI index is scheduled to be released on Friday.