New Delhi, Feb 28 (IANS): Market was likely to be in a range-bound zone in the near term, said V.K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

"FIIs have sharply reduced their selling this month and have turned buyers to the tune of Rs 872 crore in the cash market, so far in February, despite the high US bond yields. This indicates that FIIs are unlikely to press big selling pulling the market sharply down, because of this favourable market construct, dips are getting bought, aided by sustained flows into the market," he said.

The present range-bound consolidation phase is likely to continue for some time in the absence of strong positive or negative triggers, he said.

Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities said Asian stocks traded within tight ranges on Wednesday after the S&P 500 nudged higher.

Nifty rebounded on February 27 snapping a two-day decline in a choppy trade session. At close, Nifty was up 0.34 per cent or 76.3 points at 22198.4. Nifty rose on February 27 snapping a two-day decline and formed a bull candle encompassing the body of the negative candle of the previous session. Nifty seems to be consolidating in a sideways move. It could now stay in the 22,075-22,297 band for the near term and breach of this could determine its short-term trend, he said.

BSE Sensex is trading at 72,542.68 points, down 552.54 points or 0.76 per cent. Asian Paints, Powergrid, Wipro are down more than 1 per cent.