Equities flat amid mixed global cues, auto and metal stocks down 2 pc

Equity benchmark indices oscillated between gains and losses during early hours on Monday, tracking sluggish Asian stocks as US-China trade talks resume later this week and the US Federal Reserve is expected to deliver its first interest-rate cut in a decade.

At 10:15 am, the BSE S & P Sensex was down 83 points at 37,800 while the Nifty 50 slipped 46 points to 11,238.

At the National Stock Exchange, sectoral indices were mixed with Nifty auto, media and metal down over 2 per cent. Financial services, IT and private banks showed marginal gains.

Among stocks, Indiabulls Housing Finance plunged by 8.7 per cent and traded at Rs 570 per share. Bajaj Auto was down by 4.9 per cent, Hero MotoCorp by 3.6 per cent, Vedanta by 3.5 per cent and Zee Entertainment by 3.4 per cent.

However, ICICI Bank edged higher by 4.3 per cent. The other prominent gainers were IT majors like HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys.

Meanwhile, Asian stocks dipped as US and Chinese trade negotiators meet in Shanghai this week for their first in-person talks since a G-20 truce last month, However, investor expectations are low for a breakthrough.

The biggest decline was in South Korea on earnings concerns, with equity benchmarks also slipping in Japan and Hong Kong. China was little changed as markets anxiously counted down to a likely cut in US interest rates this week.