Stock Market: Sensex Rises Marginally By 45 Points, Nifty Holds 18,400 In Volatile Trade. Tata Steel Down 1%

Stock update: Dr Reddy's, Maruti, Tata Consultancy Services, and UltraTech Cement were among the winners in early trade on the Sensex platform

The BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices were up to 0.22 per cent higher.

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Sensex and Nifty, the two key equity benchmarks, opened lower on Wednesday tracking weak Asian trends and reports of Russian missile striking Poland raised geopolitical tensions. The domestic indices, however, soon turned volatile and continued to swing between gains and losses.

At 10.15 am, the indices turned flat. The BSE Sensex was marginally up by 45 points at 61,918, while the broader NSE Nifty was trading at 18,409, up 5.85 points.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, Dr Reddy's, Maruti, Tata Consultancy Services, and UltraTech Cement were among the winners in early trade. On the flip side, Airtel, Asian Paint, ITC, HUL, Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel emerged major losers.

The broader markets have outperformed the frontline indices. The BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices were up to 0.22 per cent higher.

Sectorwise, Nifty Oil & Gas weakened the most, down 0.5 per cent. FMCG, Financials also edged lower. While the Auto, PSB and Consumer Durable indices gained.

In the previous session, the BSE benchmark climbed 249 points (0.40 per cent) to settle at 61,873, its lifetime high, on Tuesday. The Nifty advanced 74 points (0.41 per cent) to finish at 18,403.

"While the undertone of the market remains cautious to intra-day volatility, cooling US inflation, sluggish crude oil price, expectations of slow pace of rate hikes by the US Fed and hopes of easing coronavirus restrictions by China could further boost investors' confidence," said Prashanth Tapse - Research Analyst, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong were trading lower. Wall Street had ended in the positive territory on Tuesday.

International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.25 per cent lower at $93.63 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 221.32 crore on Tuesday, as per exchange data.

Meanwhile, the rupee depreciated 66 paise to 81.57 against the US dollar in early trade on Wednesday, tracking the strength of the American currency in the overseas market and a muted trend in domestic equities.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 81.41 against the dollar, then lost ground to quote at 81.57, registering a loss of 66 paise over its previous close. On Tuesday, the rupee appreciated 37 paise to close at 80.91 against the US dollar.