Erasing early gains, Indian stocks close largely steady

New Delhi [India], January 24 : Indian stock indices closed Tuesday's trade largely on a steady note. In early trade, they traded significantly higher.
Among the Nifty sectoral indices, metal, pharma, PSU bank, and realty were the top losers, whereas consumer durables, auto, and IT were the top gainers, National Stock Exchange data showed.
"Markets ended almost unchanged in a volatile trading session, in continuation to the prevailing consolidation phase," said Ajit Mishra, vice president, Technical Research, Religare Broking Ltd.
Vinod Nair, head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said he has hopes of a soft landing in the US economy along with anticipation of a lesser rate hike boosted global bourses.
"Mirroring robust global peers, the domestic market extended previous gains driven by auto stocks. However, due to selling pressure in banking shares, the indices anchored close to the flatline. Auto stocks were in focus prior to the earnings results of the sector major," said Nair.
Meanwhile, the Rupee closed at 81.72 versus the US dollar, against Monday's close of 81.39.
"The Rupee trend which was positive a couple of days back has turned volatile as the last couple day rupee has lost 0.80 per cent from highs of 80.95 registered in early Monday morning opening," said Jateen Trivedi, VP and research analyst at LKP Securities.