Sensex, Nifty inch lower in early trade amid volatility; auto stocks rally

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Indian benchmark equity indices traded lower with minor losses amid volatility in morning trade on Tuesday. The Nifty slipped below 18,050 level. Auto, pharmaceutical and PSU bank stocks rallied while FMCG shares declined.

At 10:26 am, BSE Sensex was at 60,399.54, down 146.18 points or 0.24%, while the broader NSE Nifty50 fell 32 points or 0.18% to 18,036.55.

The broader market outperformed. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.81% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.67%. The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1946 shares rose and 1033 shares fell. A total of 166 shares were unchanged.

M&M was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising over 2 per cent, followed by Bajaj Auto, Sun Pharma, SBI L&T and IndusInd Bank.

HDFC Bank, Nestle India, HDFC Maruti, PowerGrid and Titan were among the laggards.

In the previous session, Sensex ended 477.99 points or 0.80% higher at 60,545.61, and Nifty surged 151.75 points or 0.85% to 18,068.55.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market, as they offloaded shares worth Rs 860.65 crore on Monday, as per exchange data.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul were trading with losses in mid-session deals.

Major indices on Wall Street ended marginally positive in the overnight session.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude fell 0.10% to $83.35 per barrel.