After two days of decline, the frontline Indian stock indices managed to end with moderate gains, thanks in part to a recovery in global equities and partly due to short covering. While the Large-Cap shares had a good session, the broader indices ended almost unchanged with a slight negative bias.
 
After opening with smart gains, the indices turned choppy and were unable to sustain early gains, dragging the NSE Nifty to an intra-day low of 5180. However, from there on the indices gradually edged higher throughout the day.
 
The upswing was led by the index heavyweight TCS. The IT giant's stock surged by as much as 12% after it came out with strong Q4 FY12 results and the management sounded confident about maintaining the current tempo in the coming quarters. TCS also announced a special dividend on crossing the US$10bn revenue mark on an annual basis.
 
On the other hand, shares of telecom giant Bharti Airtel, Idea, RCom fell sharply in early trade amid worries that the new gudelines recommended by telecom regulator TRAI for the auction of 2G spectrum will financially hit the incumbent telecos adversely.
 
The BSE Sensex ended at 17,227, up 130 points or ~0.7% over the previous close. It had earlier touched a day’s low of 17,046 and a day’s high of 17,247. It opened at 17,154.
 
The NSE Nifty settled at 5,223, up 22 points or 0.4% over the previous close. It touched a day’s low of 5,180 and day’s high of 5,232.
 
The INDIA VIX on the NSE ended lower by a whopping 11% to close at 19.25. It hit days high of 21.57. It hit a low of 19.13.

Out of the 50 stocks in the Sensex, the notable gainers were TCS, Wipro, Tata Power, Hero Motocorp, Infosys, Hindalco and Tata Steel.
 
Among the major losers included L&T, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Auto, DLF, Gail India and Maruti Suzuki.
 
The market breadth was almost even, 1398 stocks declined and 1330 stocks advanced.
 
The sentiment is fragile amid concerns about direction of FII flows given the uncertainty surrounding the controversial GAAR tax provisions. Reports of a large Asian hedge fund having shifted its derivative positions on Nifty futures to Singapore caused some panic yesterday. Although the Government has clarified its position on the GAAR norms and tax policies with regards to indirect transfer of Indian assets, there is considerable trepidation among the overseas investors.
 
On top of it, global markets have been hit by worries that the long-running debt crisis in the eurozone could worsen in case of regime change in France. Incumbent French President Nicolas Sarkozy has come second in the first round of polls. Socialist leader François Hollande, who is the front-runner, has vowed to renegotiate the EU fiscal compact.
 
In addition, the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte and his cabinet have resigned over the collapse of budget talks, putting that country's coveted 'AAA' rating in jeopardy. News of continued slowdown in the manufacturing sector in China and Europe have also made global investors' more jittery.

"The outcome of the two-day FOMC policy meeting and the US GDP data will have some bearing on the sentiment in the next few sessions. For India, a possible catalyst could come in the form of progress on key reform bills during the second half of the Budget Session or policy action through executive directives. The passing of the Finance Bill is eagerly awaited by most FIIs and everyone linked with the Indian capital markets," says Amar Ambani, Head of Research, IIFL. 
 
In global action today, Asian stock indices closed mixed with benchmarks in Japan and South Korea falling and those in Hong Kong and Australia rising marginally. Australian shares rallied after core consumer prices gained less than economists forecast.
 
Asian stocks had dropped earlier as political uncertainty and weak economic data out of Europe cast doubt on the fate of the debt-plagued region. Stocks in mainland China came off their lows while a stronger yen pressured Japanese exporters.
 
The Nikkei in Tokyo was down ~0.8% at 9,468. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong was up ~0.2% at 20,670 while the Shanghai Composite index in China was flat at 2,388.
 
The Kospi in Seoul was down ~0.5% at 1,963 while the Straits Times index in Singapore was up 0.4% at 2,974. The S&P/ASX 200 index in Australia was up ~0.2% at 4,360. The Taiex in Taiwan was up 0.2% at 7,498.
 
Separately, European stocks rose from a three-month low spurred by strength in banks and oil firms. The Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.7%.
 
The DAX in Germany and the CAC in France were up ~0.6% and ~0.9%, respectively. The FTSE 100 in London was up 0.3%. The benchmarks in Spain and Italy were up 1.5% apiece.

Markets recover slightly…TCS shines, Telecom stocks slump