Mumbai, India (BBN) – The Sensex and Nifty erased their initial gains due to heavy selling in healthcare, metal, infrastructure and bank stocks despite firm Asian cues.
At 12.25pm, the 30-share BSE index Sensex was down 104.15 points or 0.35 per cent at 29,414.59 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty was down 26.15 points or 0.29 per cent at 9,100.70, reports The Hindu Business Line.
Among BSE sectoral indices, healthcare index fell the most by 1.59 per cent, followed by bank 0.6 per cent, auto 0.59 per cent and infrastructure 0.51 per cent.
On the other hand, capital goods index was up 0.15 per cent, IT 0.13 per cent and FMCG 0.11 per cent.
Healthcare stocks were down as Divi’s Laboratories Ltd fell as much as 20 per cent to its lowest since June 6, 2014 after the USFDA issued an import alert on products manufactured at the company’s unit II at Visakhapatnam.
Top five Sensex gainers were ONGC (+0.92 per cent), ITC (+0.78 per cent), L&T (+0.68 per cent), Infosys (+0.49 per cent) and Coal India (+0.38 per cent), while the major losers were Dr Reddy’s (-4.25 per cent), Axis Bank (-2.93 per cent), Sun Pharma (-1.87 per cent), Cipla (-0.64 per cent) and Lupin (-0.64 per cent).
EARLY TRADE
The benchmark BSE Sensex recovered by almost 57 points in early trade on the back of gains in FMCG, capital goods, PSU, power, auto and IT sector stocks amid positive Asian cues.
After falling 130.25 points in the previous session on profit-booking, the 30-share Sensex gained 56.92 points or 0.19 per cent to 29,575.66.
Also, the broader NSE Nifty rose 18.05 points or 0.19 per cent to 9,144.90.
ASIAN SHARES
Asian shares hit 15-month highs on Tuesday, while the dollar and US bond yields were on the back foot on the prospect of a less-hawkish Federal Reserve policy trajectory.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.4 per,cent to 15-month highs, with tech-heavy Seoul and Taipei shares hitting two-year highs while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng scaled 1 1/2-year highs.
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