Mumbai, India (BBN) – The Sensex and Nifty were trading flat owing to lack of directioanal cues from global markets.
Domestic sentiment was hit due to profit-booking at prevailing levels and as the March derivatives series began on a subdued note, reports The Hindu Business Line.
At 10.55am, the 30-share BSE index Sensex was up 6.33 points or 0.02 per cent at 28,899.30 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty was down 14.95 points or 0.17 per cent at 8,924.55.
Among BSE sectoral indices,banking index fell the most by 0.83 per cent, followed by auto 0.68 per cent, capital goods 0.41 per cent and PSU 0.35 per cent. On the other hand, oil & gas index was the star-performer and was up 1.02 per cent, IT 0.44 per cent, consumer durables 0.17 per cent and TECk 0.11 per cent.
Top five Sensex gainers were Reliance (+5.11 per cent), HUL (+1.18 per cent), Infosys (+0.93 per cent), Wipro (+0.66 per cent) and Bajaj Auto (+0.65 per cent), while the major losers were Axis Bank (-2.64 per cent), M&M (-1.72 per cent), Power Grid (-1.71 per cent), Cipla (-1.28 per cent) and Bharti Airtel (-1.23 per cent).
EARLY TRADE
The 30-share Sensex fell 80.09 points, or 0.27 per cent, to 28,812.88. The gauge had gained 737.41 points in the previous six sessions.
FMCG, auto, bank, power and metal stocks were trading in the negative zone, down by up to 0.67 per cent.
The NSE Nifty offered a similar picture, which was down 10.25 points, or 0.11 per cent, at 8,929.25.
Asian stocks erased early losses but stayed below 19-month highs on Monday as a renewed drop in sovereign bond yields on political concerns prompted some investors to move to the sidelines after a recent rally.
Markets remained in recent broad trading ranges, and interest is focused on U.S. President Donald Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, where he is expected to unveil some elements of his plans to cut taxes.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat after declining 0.3 per cent in early trades.
Japan was down 1.2 per cent, and Australia off 0.2 per cent.
The US Dow Jones Industrial Average, however, had ended 0.05 per cent higher on Friday.
BBN/SK/AD