Equity indices pare early losses to trade higher; auto stocks rise

After opening on a negative note, the key Indian equity indices traded higher on Tuesday afternoon, supported by healthy buying in auto, healthcare and oil and gas stocks.

The major Asian indices, however, traded in the red due to concerns of global trade war escalation.

At 12.21 p.m., the broader Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) traded at 10,692.20 points -- higher by 34.90 points or 0.33 per cent -- from its previous close of 10,657.30 points.

The barometer 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex), which opened at 35,344.21 points, traded at 35,382.56 points (12.21 p.m.) -- up 118.15 points or 0.34 per cent -- from its previous session's close of 35,264.41 points.

Sensex has so far touched a high of 35,430.15 points and a low of 35,195.63 points during the intra-day trade. The BSE market breadth was largely even with 1,150 advances and 1,147 declines.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC, Hero MotorCorp, Sun Pharma, Tata Motors and Reliance Industries whereas Vedanta, Power Grid, ICICI Bank, HDFC and State Bank of India (SBI) were the major losers.

On the NSE, Cipla, ONGC and Sun Pharma were the highest gainers while Vedanta, Bharti Infratel and Power Grid lost the most.

--IANS

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