Indian benchmark indices ended Tuesday, October 27, almost exactly where they began. The BSE Sensex settled at 73,598.67, down 8.08 points or 0.01 per cent, and the NSE Nifty 50 slipped 3.45 points or 0.02 per cent to 22,749.75, The Hindu BusinessLine reported in its closing highlights, with selling in bank stocks weighing on the market.

Source: The Hindu BusinessLine

Crude oil remained the main pressure point. Brent crude traded around $115-116 a barrel, close to a six-month high, news agency ANI reported, while gold fell 0.54 per cent to ₹1,42,300 per 10 grams and silver dropped 1.49 per cent to ₹1,92,877 per 10 kg in the report carried by ChiniMandi. Cipla, ITC, Coal India, TCS, Adani Enterprises and Infosys were among the top losers, ANI said.

Source: ANI via ChiniMandi

The rupee, however, recovered slightly, closing 3 paise higher at 95.12 against the US dollar after opening at 95.17 and trading in a narrow 95.09-95.24 range, The Hindu BusinessLine reported. Earlier in the day the currency had slipped 7 paise to 95.22 in early trade amid hopes of Reserve Bank intervention, oil price spikes and foreign investor outflows.

Source: The Hindu BusinessLine

Rajeev Sharan, Head of Research at Brickwork Ratings, said the pressure on the rupee was now almost entirely external, with Brent near $115 a barrel: the currency was caught between a supply shock in the Gulf and a rate decision in Washington, though domestic buffers meant the RBI retained room to keep moves orderly, ANI reported. Asian markets closed mixed, with Japan's Nikkei 225 up 1.85 per cent and South Korea's KOSPI up 3 per cent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.15 per cent.

Source: ANI via ChiniMandi

The flat close capped an expiry-day session that had opened in the red on weak IT shares before FMCG and defence stocks helped the indices recover, with small-cap shares seeing strong buying during the day, according to The Hindu BusinessLine's live market coverage.