Equity indices subdued as traders book profit, Eicher Motors in focus

Equity benchmark indices were subdued during early hours on Friday in line with global cues as traders indulged in profit booking.

At 10:15 am, the BSE S & P Sensex was down by 57 points to 41,249 while the Nifty 50 slipped by 11 points at 12,127. Sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were mixed with Nifty pharma up by 1.2 per cent.

Among stocks, Eicher Motors dipped by 3.2 per cent at Rs 19,734.45 per share while Power Grid Corporation was down by 2 per cent at Rs 189.05 apiece. The other prominent losers were Tata Motors, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Reliance Industries.

However, power utility major NTPC gained by 2.6 per cent. Hero MotoCorp, UPL and Titan too traded with a positive bias.

Meanwhile, Asian share markets slipped and oil price gains stalled as the growing death toll and economic damage from the coronavirus outbreak capped the week's sharp rally.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan fell by 0.7 per cent. Japan's Nikkei and South Korea's Kospi were in the red.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell by 0.6 per cent and the Shanghai Composite was 0.1 per cent weaker.

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