Stocks recovered from losses in the past four sessions with the Sensex gaining nearly 170 points on easing retail inflation which is expected to give more room to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its February meeting.

The 30-share gauge rose 169.62 points, or 0.22 per cent, to end at 76499.63 after climbing 505.6 points to a day’s high of 76835.61.

On the NSE, the Nifty advanced 90.10 points to 23176.05.

In the broader markets, the BSE midcap index was up 2.13 per cent whereas the smallcap gauge rose 1.69 per cent.

Brokers said that though the benchmark indices ended on a green note on Tuesday, investors continue to be cautious on account of rising crude oil prices and expectations that corporate results for the third quarter are likely to be muted amid slowing economic growth.

They added that stocks will react to earnings announcements and the next key event will be the Budget.

Among the Sensex stocks, Adani Ports was the topmost gainer as it jumped almost 5 per cent. it was followed by NTPC, Tata Steel, Zomato, Tata Motors. HCL Technologies crashed 8.63 per cent and led the list of laggards as the Street was not impressed by its numbers. However, brokerages remained positive on its road ahead. All the Adani group stocks saw brisk demand with Adani Power zooming by nearly 20 per cent.

Retail inflation declined to a four-month low of 5.22 per cent in December, mainly on account of easing of prices in the food basket.

Brent crude was trading at $79.98 per barrel against its last close of 81.01 a barrel while the US 10-year treasury yield was holding firm at 4.799 per cent.

Provisional data from the exchanges showed FIIs remaining sellers and offloading stocks worth ₹8,132 crore during Tuesday’s trade. However, it was balanced by domestic institutional investors who bought shares to the tune of ₹7,901 crore.