Stock Market: Sensex Slips 115 Points, Nifty Trades Below 18,300 In Early Trade. Auto Stocks Rise

Stock update: ITC, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra, Sun Pharma and HDFC were among the major laggards on the Sensex platform

Sensex and Nifty, the two key equity benchmarks, on Tuesday gave up their initial gains to trade lower. After a positive beginning, both the benchmark indices later turned choppy and were trading lower.

At 10.30 am, the BSE Sensex was down by 115 points to 61,498, while the broader NSE Nifty was trading at 18,296, down 33 points.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, ITC, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra, Sun Pharma and HDFC were among the major laggards. On the flip side, UltraTech Cement, ICICI Bank, NTPC, IndusInd Bank, Bharti Airtel. and Mahindra & Mahindra were the major winners in early deals.

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap was down 0.03 per cent and the SmallCap index held similar gains.

Sectorwise, Nifty Auto index logged the highest gains, was up 0.5 per cent.  While FMCG and Realty indices were the sole losers with downticks of 0.6 per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively.

Among stocks, Greaves Cotton surged nearly 8 per cent on posting Rs 29 crore profit in Q2 from a loss of Rs 23 crore a year-ago.

In the previous session on Monday, the BSE benchmark had declined 171 points (0.28 per cent) to settle at 61,624, while the NSE Nifty dipped 21 points (0.11 per cent) to finish at 18,329.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong were quoting higher, while Seoul traded lower. Wall Street had ended in the negative territory on Monday.

"The strongest tailwind for equity markets globally is the peaking of inflation in the US and the possibility of a slower pace of rate hikes. In tune with this trend, CPI inflation in India, too, has declined to 6.7 per cent in October from 7.4 per cent in September. The decline in crude to USD 92 (per barrel) is another positive. All these can take the Nifty to a new record, but in typical market characteristics, it may not happen when the consensus expects it to happen," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.13 per cent lower at $93.02 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) remained net buyers on Monday as they bought shares worth Rs 1,089.41 crore, as per exchange data.

Meanwhile, the rupee appreciated 14 paise to 81.14 against the American currency in early trade on Tuesday on positive domestic macroeconomic data and easing crude oil prices.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 81.18 against the dollar, then gained further ground to touch 81.14, registering a rise of 14 paise over its previous close. On Monday, the rupee depreciated by 50 paise to close at 81.28 against the US currency.