Equities range-bound in early trade, IndusInd Bank top gainer

Equity indices were in the positive terrain during early hours on Thursday, a day after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced measures to boost the beleaguered real estate sector.

At 10:15 am, the BSE S & P Sensex was up by 116 points at 40,581 while the Nifty 50 edged higher by 25 points to 11,991. Most sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange (NSE) were in the green with Nifty realty gaining by 1.3 per cent.

On Wednesday, the Union Cabinet approved the creation of a professionally managed Rs 25,000 crore fund for boosting stalled middle and low-income RERA registered housing projects that are networth positive, said Sitharaman.

Among stocks, real estate major DLF inched up by 1.2 per cent and Oberoi Realty by 1.4 per cent

Private lender IndusInd Bank gained by 2.5 per cent to Rs 1,376.25 per share. Housing finance company HDFC was up by 1.5 per cent while State Bank of India ticked up by 1 per cent.

However, Tata Steel and Yes Bank lost by 2.7 per cent each. Tata Motors, JSW Steel and Vedanta too stood in the loser's stand.

Meanwhile, Asian shares struggled to cling near multi-month peaks as US-China trade deal left investors frustrated at the lack of concrete progress.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan eased by 0.1 per cent while Japan's Nikkei dithered either side of flat in quiet trade. South Korean stocks were up by 0.1 per cent after hitting their highest since May and Shanghai blue chips added 0.3 per cent.

Some reports said a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to sign an interim trade deal could be delayed until December as discussions continue over terms and venue.