Sensex, Nifty turn choppy amid weak global cues

Mumbai: Domestic equity benchmarks BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty started on a choppy note Tuesday, tracking weak cues from global equities amid concerns of a global economic slowdown.

The 30-share index was trading 23.52 points, or 0.06 per cent, higher at 39,710.02 at 0930 hours. Similarly, the broader Nifty was quoting 8.70 points, or 0.07 per cent, up at 11,874.30.

In the previous session Monday, the BSE gauge settled with 291.86 points, or 0.74 per cent, gains at 39,686.50, and the Nifty advanced 76.75 points, or 0.65 per cent, to end at 11,865.60.

Top gainers in the Sensex pack in early trade included ONGC, IndusInd Bank, NTPC, RIL, L&T, HDFC, Bharit Airtel, Maruti and SBI, rising up to 1.15 per cent.

Yes Bank witnessed heavy selling pressure, falling up to 6 per cent, followed by Tata Motors, Hero MotoCorp, Sun Pharma, TechM, Bajaj Auto and M&M which slipped up to 1.76 per cent.

According to traders, investors are cautious ahead of the Union Budget, scheduled for Friday.

In early session, domestic investors followed cues from other Asian equities which turned volatile amid fears of a global economic slowdown after reports of weakening manufacturing growth from the US, the euro zone, as well as India.

Shanghai Composite Index, Hang Seng, Nikkei and Kospi were trading on a mixed note in their respective early sessions. Bourses on Wall Street ended significantly higher on Monday.

The global oil benchmark Brent crude futures were trading 0.20 per cent lower at 64.93 per barrel.

On the currency front, the Indian rupee depreciated 9 paise to 69.03 against the US dollar.

Meanwhile, on a net basis, foreign institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 426.53 crore, while domestic institutional investors sold shares to the tune of Rs 50.99 crore, provisional data available with stock exchanges showed Monday.