Stock Market: Sensex, Nifty Trade Flat. Tata Steel Up 2 Per Cent; Metal, Auto Lead

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, Asian Paints, TechM, Kotak Bank, Bajaj Finserv, TCS, Infosys were among early losers

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Tuesday were trading flat. At 9.38 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was marginally down by 32 points to 65,991. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 was trading at 19,673, down 1.15 per cent. On the 30-share Sensex platform, Asian Paints, TechM, Kotak Bank, Bajaj Finserv, TCS, Infosys were among early losers. On the flip side, Tata Steel, UltraCemco, L&T, Airtel, JSW Steel, Titan emerged gainers.

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were leading the benchmarks with gains of 0.17 per cent and 0.46 per cent, respectively.

Among specific stocks, Tata Steel shares rose 1.4 per cent after Moody's raised the company's long-term rating from Ba1 to Baa3. The outlook has been revised from 'Positive' to 'Stable'. The IPO of the JSW Group firm, JSW Infrastructure’s was subscribed 43 per cent on the first day of the issue, led by retail investors (1.38x subscription), NII (60 per cent), and QIB (3 per cent).

Sectorally, the Nifty Metal index was up 0.6 per cent, followed by the Nifty Auto and PSU Bank indices (up 0.4 per cent each). The Nifty IT index, however, was down 0.37 per cent.

In the previous session on Monday, the S&P BSE Sensex ended 15 points higher at 66,024, while the Nifty50 settled unchanged at 19,676.

"Bearish sentiment across the Asian markets could drag down local shares in early Tuesday trade. FII selling in the current month so far has precipitated the fall, with rising US dollar index and treasury yields coupled with higher crude oil prices further dampening the sentiment. Renewed worries over major central banks resorting to likely rate hikes to rein in inflation are making investors jittery about the sluggish demand and slowdown in growth going ahead," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said in his pre-opening market comment.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong were trading lower. The US markets ended in the positive territory on Monday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.45 per cent to $92.87 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 2,333.03 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, the rupee continued its downward movement for the second straight day and fell by 8 paise to 83.21 against the US dollar in early trade on Tuesday amid massive selling by foreign equity investors and a firm American currency.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 83.19 and hit the lowest level of 83.23 against the greenback. It later traded at 83.21 against the dollar, registering a fall of 8 paise from its previous close. On Monday, the rupee declined by 19 paise to close at 83.13 against the dollar.