Markets rebound from 4-month lows; Nifty holds 6,000

Benchmark share indices rebounded from their four month lows, amid a volatile trading session, to end marginally higher on value buying by investors at lower levels. However, further gains were capped after foreign funds turned net sellers in equities.

The 30-share Sensex ended up 49 points at 20,261 and the 50-share Nifty closed 22 points higher at 6,022.

India's volatility index, INDIA VIX which had touched 20.09 in intra-day trade finally ended the session at 18.93

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 1234.02 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.

The rupee was trading strong in late trades at Rs 62.43 compared with previous close of Rs 62.54 per dollar. The recovery in the stock markets helped the rupee gain further against the US dollar.

Asian markets ended mixed with Japan's benchmark share index Nikkei gaining the most. The Nikkei ended 1.2% at 14,180. Among other markets, Hang Seng ended 0.6% lower and Straits Times ended down 0.2%.

European shares were trading with marginal gains, amid a sluggish start, led financials. However, further gains were capped as investors adopted a wait-and-watch stance ahead of the US non-farm payrolls data due on Friday. The CAC-40, DAX and FTSE-100 were up 0.02-0.4% each.

BSE Auto, Metal and Realty indices were the top gainers up 1.6% each followed by Power and IT indices.

Auto shares gained momentum after several companies showcased new car and two-wheeler models at the Auto Expo 2014 in Delhi.

Tata Motors ended up nearly 3%. The company launched two cars, Zest, a compact sedan, and Bolt, a hatchback which are powered by the company's new Revotron engine series.

Both these new car models are based on the company's enhanced X1 platform, on which the existing Vista and Manza models are built. Mahindra & Mahindra ended up 2.5%.

Bajaj Auto gained 1.2% while Hero MotoCorp ended flat with negative bias. Hero MotoCorp today unveiled two new 100cc bikes -- Splendor Pro Classic and Passion TR -- which will hit the Indian markets in next two months. Besides, the company also showcased a 620 cc super premium motorbike 'Hastur' and two concept bikes 'SimplEcity' and 'iON'.

IT shares which witnessed profit taking in early trades on growth concerns in the US rebounded in the latter half of the trading session. TCS ended up 1.7% contributing the most to the Sensex gains. Infosys gained 0.6%.

Other Sensex gainers include Tata Steel and HDFC Bank.

Among other shares, Ranbaxy Labs ended up nearly 6% at Rs 340 after the company reported lower loss for the quarter ended December 2013 on the back of higher US sales boosted by acne products. The pharma major reported a lower loss of Rs 158.94 crore for the fourth quarter ended December 2013 compared with Rs 492.44 crore in the same quarter last year.

Tech Mahindra ended nearly 4% up after it reported profit at Rs 1,010 crore during the quarter, a jump of over three times from Rs 321.5 crore during the same quarter a year ago. This was higher than the Street expectation of Rs 662 crore.

Shares of Power Finance Corporation ended up 5.5% at Rs 146 after net profit for the quarter ended December 2013 surged 37% to Rs 1,534 crore from Rs 1,117 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal. The board announced an interim dividend of Rs 8.80 per share.

Muthoot Finance ended up 3.7% after the Muthoot Group announced plans to set up white label automated teller machines across the country.

Shares of Voltas were up nearly 7% at Rs 115.25 after a foreign brokerage upgraded the stock to 'buy' from 'sell', because of improvement seen in unitary cooling and engineering agency divisions.

Meanwhile, the broader markets outperformed the benchmark indices with the BSE Mid-cap index up 0.5% and the Small-cap index ended up 1%.

Market breadth ended positive with 1,460 gainers and 1,110 losers on the BSE.