New Delhi: The key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Thursday started trade in the red because of weak global cues. The indices were oscillating between gains and losses due to high volatility as crude oil prices touched nearly $120 a barrel amid the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.


The 30-share BSE Sensex, which fell 400 points, marginally recovered. At 10.10 am, the BSE Sensex was up 7 points to 57,691, while the NSE Nifty was at 17,247, up 1.55 points.





Among the Sensex-30 shares, Dr Reddy's, Tata Steel, TCS, Tech M, HCL Tech, NTPC and Infosys were the top gainers. Coal India, Hindalco, ONGC, JSW Steel were the winners on the Nifty.


On the flip side, Kotak Bank, ICICI Bank, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance, Maruti, SBI, HDFC Bank, Tata Motors, meanwhile, were down up to 3 per cent, pulling frontline indices lower.


In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were also in the negative territory, down up to 0.19 per cent.


Seven out of the 15 sector gauges, compiled by the National Stock Exchange, were trading in the red. Nifty Bank and Nifty Financial Services were underperforming the index by falling as much as 1.30 per cent and 1.18 per cent, respectively. However, Nifty Metal and Nifty IT jumped 1.19 per cent and 0.45 per cent, respectively.


Among individual stocks, Zee Entertainment surged 15 per cent after its largest shareholder Invesco said it will not pursue an EGM to add six independent directors to Zee’s Board as it backed the merger between the company and Sony.


On the previous day, Sensex had slipped 304 points (0.53 per cent) to close at 57,685 on Wednesday, while Nifty had moved 70 points (0.40 per cent) lower to settle at 17,246.


Meanwhile, equity exchanges in Tokyo, Seoul, and Shanghai were quoting lower in mid-session deals, while Hong Kong traded marginally higher.

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

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers as they bought shares worth Rs 481.33 crore on Wednesday, according to stock exchange data.