MUMBAI - A key index of the Indian equities markets gave up its gains Tuesday to end trade 43 points lower than its previous close.

It had managed to crawl into the positive terrain about an hour before closing bell after languishing in the red for most of the day, but ended in a loss.

The announcement of the first quarterly monetary policy review Tuesday turned out be a non-event for the markets with the Reserve Bank of India maintaining a status quo on key policy rates.

The 30-scrip benchmark index of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the Sensex, which opened at 15,428.5 points, lost 43.1 points or 0.28 percent to close at 15,331.94 points.

The Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), also ended in the red, closing 0.18 percent lower at 4,564.1 points.

Broader market indices did better and ended in the positive terrain, with the BSE midcap index closing 1.13 percent up and the BSE smallcap index ending 1.68 percent higher.

The market breadth was positive with 1,709 stocks advancing compared to 945 declining and 91 remaining unchanged.

Among the gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors, up 10.47 percent at Rs.414.20; Reliance Infra, up 3.91 percent at Rs.1,209.95; DLF, up 3.4 percent at Rs.426.10; and Reliance Communications, up 2.98 percent at Rs.290.50.

Among the losers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever, down 7.28 percent at Rs.277; ICICI Bank, down 2.37 percent at Rs.739.65; Grasim Consultants, down 1.77 percent at Rs.2,837; and SBI, down 1.7 percent at Rs.1,680.50.

Data with the market watchdog, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), showed foreign funds were net buyers, lapping up scrips worth a little over $92.5 million.

In other Asian markets, the Nikkei 225 Stock Average, a key index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, ended flat and closed a marginal 1.4 points below its previous close at 10,087.26 points.

The slump came after nine consecutive days of gains with investors becoming sceptical over the sustainability of the rally.

The Hang Seng, the primary index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, also rose smartly to 20,624.54 points, up 372.92 points.

European markets were sluggish, with the FTSE of Britain ruling in the red at 4,575.57 points, down 10.56 points.

Its French peer CAC 40 was ruling at 3,377.68 points, a mere 5.32 points higher than its previous close.

Futures of key US market indices pointed to a weak opening of the main indices Tuesday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Standard and Poor’s 500 and the Nasdaq futures ruling 0.2-0.3 percent below its last close.