Indian stocks end flat amid Middle East tensions and Fed policy meeting, Nifty at 24,812

At the close of the stock markets today, the BSE Sensex was at 81,444.66, down by 138.64 points or 0.17 per cent, while the Nifty 50 was down 41.35 points or 0.17 per cent at 24,812.05.

This marked the second consecutive session of decline, highlighting the prevailing indecisiveness among market participants.

Sudeep Shah, Head of Technical Research and Derivatives at SBI Securities, said, "The recent price action signals growing caution, primarily driven by escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and uncertainty surrounding the upcoming US Federal Reserve policy decision.""Several macroeconomic factors are increasing pressure on our market's uptrend, leading to a sideways to bearish bias on technical charts. However, this correction is healthy for investors, as the market has already outperformed in Q1," said VLA Ambala, SEBI Registered Research Analyst and Co-Founder of Stock Market Today.

Within the Nifty pack, IndusInd Bank and Titan emerged as the top gainers, offering some support to the index.

On the other hand, TCS and Adani Ports were the major drags. Among the sectoral indices, Nifty Consumer Durables, Nifty Private Bank, and Nifty Auto closed in the green.

Nifty Media, Nifty IT, and Nifty Metal ended as the top sectoral laggards, reflecting broader weakness. On the global front, market participants remained on the sidelines ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy meeting later tonight, which is expected to be a key trigger for the next move.

In the derivatives segment, 67 stocks advanced while 156 declined. Significant open interest build-up was observed in Hindustan Zinc, Uno Minda, Kaynes Technology, Biocon, and Polycab, indicating increased trader interest in these counters.

The broader markets also remained under pressure, with the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices ending lower for the second straight session.

SBI Securities, in its market commentary, said the market breadth remained weak, as the advance/decline ratio was heavily skewed in favour of the decliners, underscoring the prevailing bearish undertone.

At the early hour, the benchmark index Nifty opened with a minor gap down but swiftly rebounded during the initial hour of trade, reflecting early optimism.

However, the recovery lacked follow-through, and as the session progressed, the index gradually pared all gains and slipped into negative territory.

Finally, it has ended at the 24812 level with a loss of 0.17 per cent.

Tensions in the Gulf escalated further after US President Donald Trump called for an "unconditional surrender" by the Iranian regime, something Iran has ruled out.