Stock markets gain marginally in early trading

Equity benchmark indices opened higher on Tuesday led by gains in select heavyweights like Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, HDFC Bank and Hindustan Lever.

At the National Stock Exchange, all sectoral indices were in the green except pharma and media.

At 10:15 am, the BSE S & P Sensex was up 111 points at 38,711 while the Nifty gained 18 points to 11,616.

Among other gainers were Hindalco, Bharti Infratel, Britannia and Power Grid.

But stocks of oil marketing companies fell. Bharat Petroleum Corporation slipped 3.7 per cent while Indian Oil was down 2.6 per cent. IndusInd Bank and Reliance Industries too dropped by over 1 per cent.

Meanwhile, Asian stocks were mixed and US futures fell after US President Donald Trump's top trade negotiator said Washington plans to proceed with a tariff hike on Chinese goods on Friday.

South Korean and Japanese shares slid as both markets came back online after holidays, while stocks in China and Hong Kong recovered some of Monday's losses.

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