Sensex, Nifty Give Up Gains To End Marginally Lower

Indian shares gave up early gains to end marginally lower on Tuesday as geopolitical tensions persisted and two more Federal Reserve officials have warned that it’s premature to consider cutting interest rates.

Geopolitical tensions were back in focus after Hamas rejected Israel’s latest ceasefire proposal made at talks in Cairo and Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had set a date for a ground offensive in Rafah – which he has long been warned against.

Doubts crept in about a possible Fed rate cut this year, following hawkish commentary from Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee and his Minneapolis counterpart Neel Kashkari.

However, former Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said in an interview with Bloomberg TV that he’s expecting three interest-rate cuts this year and that’s the base case.

U.S. inflation data and the release of Fed meeting minutes this week are expected to provide additional clues on the Fed’s rate trajectory.

Investors also looked ahead to domestic and U.S. bank earnings for directional cues.
The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex gave up early gains to end the session down 58.80 points, or 0.08 percent, at 74,683.70.

The broader NSE Nifty index finished down 23.55 points, or 0.1 percent, at 22,642.75, after having closed at a record high on Monday.

Asian Paints, Reliance Industries, Coal India, Hero MotoCorp and Titan Company dropped 1-2 percent while ICICI Bank, Hindalco and Apollo Hospitals Enterprise rallied 2-3 percent.

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