Bulls vs Bears: Here's what to expect on Dalal Street today

Indian equity benchmarks on Tuesday finished lower in a volatile trade as losses in consumer goods and banking stock countered gains in metal and energy. The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 49 points or 0.08 per cent to close at 59,197; while the broader NSE Nifty moved 10 points or 0.06 per cent to settle at 17,656.

Mid- and small-cap shares, however, finished on a strong note as Nifty midcap 100 rose 0.58 per cent and small-cap climbed 0.29 per cent.

Eight out of the 15 sector gauges -- compiled by the National Stock Exchange -- settled in the red. Sub-indexes Nifty FMCG and Nifty Bank underperformed the NSE platform by falling as much as 0.52 per cent and 0.35 per cent, respectively.

On the stock-specific front, Tata Consumer Products was the top Nifty loser as the stock cracked 2.23 per cent to close at Rs 818.75. Bajaj Finserv, Britannia, M&M and Bajaj Finance were also among the laggards. In contrast, Apollo Hospitals, Bharti Airtel, NTPC, Shree Cement and SBI Life were among the top gainers.

The overall market breadth stood slightly positive as 1,787 shares advanced while 1,662 declined on BSE.

Here's a look at what analysts said about the direction the market is likely to take today.

"Domestic indices wiped out its early gains to close flat, tracking mixed global cues. While the energy crisis and ECB interest rate decision later in the week pressurized European markets. Chinese policymakers’ renewed efforts to strengthen its economy boded well for the Chinese bourses. In an effort to stabilize declining oil prices, OPEC+ opted to cut back on the output given the faltering global growth outlook," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

The European Central Bank would meet on Thursday to discuss rate actions, followed by a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting on September 21.

"Nifty failed to capitalize on the early gain as profit-taking happened around 17,750. On the lower end, 17,600 acted as support for the index. The trend remains sideways as the Nifty failed to provide any directional breakout. Resistance is seen at 17,770; whereas, support is visible at 17,580/17,468," said Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities.