Equity indices flat as traders book profits, Yes Bank and L & T top drags

Traders booked profit and equity benchmark indices were flat during early hours on Tuesday while Asian markets looked up amid signs of goodwill between China and the United States as the world's two biggest economies prepared to sign the long-awaited phase one of trade deal later this week.

Investors also pondered over the possibility of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) continuing with the status quo on key interest rates at its February meet as inflation is likely to remain similarly elevated in January. Retail inflation print for December came at 7.35 per cent, up from 5.54 per cent in November.

At 10:15 am, the BSE S & P Sensex was down by 2 points to 41,858 while the Nifty 50 ticked up by 6 points at 12,335. Sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were mixed with Nifty metal gaining by 1.3 per cent.

Among stocks, Vedanta emerged as the top winner with gains of 2.5 per cent at Rs 164.55 per share. JSW Steel advanced by 1.8 per cent, Tata Steel by 1.6 per cent and Hindalco by 1.3 per cent.

IT majors Tata Consultancy Services and HCL Technologies were up by 1.4 per cent and 1.3 per cent respectively. The other prominent winners were GAIL, Zee Entertainment, Cipla and Bharat Petroleum Corporation.

However, Yes Bank continued with its southward trend and was down by 4.6 per cent to Rs 40.15 per share. Co-promoter Rana Kapoor, and his family-run firms Yes Capital India and Morgan Credits have exited the bank, thus losing all control and voting rights.

At the same time, independent director and chairman of Yes Bank's Audit Committee Uttam Prakash Agarwal has resigned citing deteriorating corporate governance standards and compliance failure as the reason. The other losers included UPL, Ultratech Cement, Larsen & Toubro and ONGC.

Meanwhile, Asian shares hit a seven-month high with the Nikkei 225 and the Kospi climbing over 0.7 per cent each while the Shanghai Composite was up 0.1 per cent.

The moves came as a Chinese delegation arrived in Washington ahead of Wednesday's signing of the phase one trade agreement. The lingering trade war between the world's two largest economies has cast a shadow over the global economy.