Equity indices flat but IT, auto stocks gain

Equity benchmark indices were subdued during early hours on Tuesday in lacklustre trading amid mixed cues from Asian peers.

At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was up by 78 points or 0.21 per cent at 36,565 while the Nifty 50 edged ticked up by 10 points or 0.09 per cent at 10,774.

Most sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the red except for Nifty IT which moved up by 1.7 per cent, pharma by 0.8 per cent and auto by 0.5 per cent.

IT stocks appeared to be the flavour of the day with Infosys gaining by 2.6 per cent to Rs 784.50 per share. Wipro was up by 1.6 per cent, HCL Technologies by 1.5 per cent and Tech Mahindra by 1.3 per cent.

Auto stocks also gained marginally with Bajaj Auto and Tata Motors moving up by 1.6 per cent each and Maruti Suzuki by 1.1 per cent.

However, Power Grid Corporation slipped by 2.5 per cent to Rs 173.40 per share. Grasim was down by 2.4 per cent, ONGC by 2.1 per cent, ITC by 1.7 per cent and Tata Steel by 1.6 per cent.

Meanwhile, Asian indices traded mixed despite a strong close on Wall Street overnight. In Japan, Nikkei traded down by 0.7 per cent as the market participants seemed concerned over the rising number of new Covid-19 cases in Tokyo.

China's Shanghai Composite was up by nearly 1 per cent higher and Hong Kong's Hang Seng traded just above the neutral line.

-ANI

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