Markets In Red; Sensex Down 212 Points, Nifty At 18,200

New Delhi: The Indian equity benchmark indices started trading on a positive session on Tuesday. Sensex jumped over 135 points in opening trade, tracking gains in index-majors ITC, Tech Mahindra, and Bajaj Finserv amid a largely positive trend in the global markets.

However, the indices were seen coming under selling pressure. At 10 AM, the BSE Sensex gauge was trading 212 points lower at 61,096 in early trade. Likewise, the Nifty dropped 74 points to 18,233.

Losses in RIL, Infosys, HDFC, (down 0.7 per cent each), Maruti (down 3 per cent), and Ultratech Cement (down 2 per cent) contributed maximum to the index's losses. On the Nifty, Eicher Motors, UPL, Tata Consumer, Divis's Lab and Grasim were the additional losers.

Sun Pharma was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising 1.49 per cent, followed by ITC, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, PowerGrid and Axis Bank.

On the other hand, UltraTech Cement, Maruti, Tata Steel, Asian Paints and HDFC were among the laggards.

In the previous session, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 85.88 points or 0.14 per cent higher at 61,308.91. The broader NSE Nifty rose by 52.35 points or 0.29 per cent to 18,308.10.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo were trading with gains in mid-session deals, while Seoul was in the red.

Stock exchanges in the US ended on a mixed note in the overnight session.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 1.20 per cent to $87.52 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market, as they sold shares worth Rs 855.47 crore on Monday, according to stock exchange data.