Sensex, Nifty Give Up Intra-day Gains

(RTTNews) - Indian shares gave up early gains to end on a flat note Wednesday as China's stimulus rally fizzled out, the conflict in the Middle East persisted and investors awaited Federal Reserve meeting minutes as well as U.S. inflation data for interest rate clues.

Earlier in the day, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) left the repo rate steady at 6.50 percent but opened the door for future rate cuts by changing its policy stance to 'neutral' from 'withdrawal of accommodation'.

"The prevailing and expected inflation-growth balance has created congenial conditions for a change in monetary policy stance to neutral. Even as there is greater confidence in navigating the last mile of disinflation, significant risks - I repeat significant risks - to inflation from adverse weather events, accentuating geopolitical conflicts, and the very recent increase in certain commodity prices continue to stare at us. The adverse impact of these risks cannot be underestimated," RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said.

The benchmark S&P/BSE Sensex ended the session down 167.71 points, or 0.21 percent, at 81,467.10 after rising to 82,319.21 in intraday trade.

The broader NSE Nifty index hit a high of 25,234.05 earlier before closing down 31.20 points, or 0.12 percent, at 24,981.95.

Hindustan Unilever, Reliance Industries, ONGC, Nestle India and ITC fell 1-3 percent while Tech Mahindra, SBI, Tata Motors, Trent and Cipla rallied 2-3 percent.

Global cues were mixed while the dollar was on track for its best run in more than two years as traders scaled back their bets for more aggressive rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.

Gold extended losses for a sixth day running, while oil prices recovered some ground after tumbling the most in more than a year the previous day on worries over Chinese demand.