The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark index, Sensex, on Tuesday erased most of its early gains and closed just 27 points up amid worries over monsoon.
After climbing to a 10-week high of 17526.82 in the first hour of trade, the Sensex pared most gains and closed barely 26.73 points higher or 0.15 per cent.
Among the 30-share index, 16 stocks including Bharti Airtel, Hindalco, HDFC and Coal India ended higher while 14 scrips including BHEL, Jindal Steel, TCS and ITC dropped.
FMCG sector, which gets a boost in sales with a good monsoon helping rural India, saw selling emerge for the second straight day as ITC and HUL shares shed over 1 per cent each.
IT majors TCS and Infosys ended lower on Tuesday after brokerage Macquarie on Monday downgraded the domestic IT sector.
Similarly, the 50-share National Stock Exchange index Nifty closed 9.35 points up at 5287.95.
Globally, Asian stocks ended higher on hopes that central banks in the US and Europe may ease monetary policy to spur economic growth. European indices were also trading higher in early trade.
