Markets Pare Early Session Gains, Banking Stocks Perform, Titan Among Top Laggards

The 30-benchmark Sensex hovered around 30,600 levels while the Nifty50 index traded around 9,030 zones.

Representational Picture (AFP)

New Delhi: Indian markets pared gains in the opening session on Wednesday which was supported by top gainers Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank. The 30-benchmark Sensex moved around 30,600 levels while the Nifty50 index traded around 9,030 zones. The laggard stocks include Titan and Mahindra & Mahindra as both slipped 2 per cent. Around 22 companies such as FMCG major Dabur India, Sun Pharma, and United Spirits are expected to announce results. Automobile stocks such as Tata Motors, Hero MotoCorp and Eicher Motors surged in the opening session to support the gains. Meanwhile, Asian stocks had a mixed opening with varied sentiments on economic recovery against escalating tension between US-China. Japan's Nikkei 225 was flat in early trade, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell a marginal 0.2 per cent and Shanghai Composite index in China declined 0.3 per cent. Wall Street stocks also ended on a higher session on Tuesday as investor sentiments were buoyed by the more states in the US have lifted restrictions to resume operations and efforts to develop a vaccine also intensified. Tuesday’s trading session has shown faith in the recovery of the economy in the second half of 2020 on expectations that the economy bottoms out. The S&P 500 index has surged 37 per cent from its March lows on various measures by Federal Reserve and government stimulus to lift the economy which has been battered by Covid-19 induced lockdown. The US has witnessed the biggest job loss since the Great Depression which stands at 11 per cent below its February record high. Oil prices slipped on worries about the pick in demand even as the lockdown measures are lifted in many countries, but US-China strains impacted the negative sentiment. Brent crude futures fell 21 cents, or 0.6 per cent, to $35.96 by 0120 GMT. The US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 31 cents, or 0.9 per cent, at $34.04 a barrel.  (With inputs from agency)