Equity indices shed early gains to trade in red; auto stocks fall

After opening on a positive note, the key Indian equity indices ceded their gains to trade in the negative territory in the afternoon session on Thursday.

According to analysts, the indices were weighed down by heavy selling pressure on auto, capital goods and banking stocks.

At 12.17 p.m., the wider Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) traded at 10,752.50 points, down 19.55 points or 0.18 per cent from the previous close of 10,772.05 points.

Similarly, the BSE Sensex, which had opened at 35,644.05 points, traded at 35,481.24 points (12.19 p.m.) -- down 66.09 points or 0.19 per cent -- from its previous session's close of 35,547.33 points.

The Sensex has so far touched a high of 35,678.69 points and a low of 35,476.85 points. The BSE market breadth was bearish with 1,521 declines against 785 advances so far.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank, Adani Ports, Reliance Industries, Infosys and Vedanta whereas Power Grid, Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M), ONGC, Axis Bank and State Bank of India were the major losers.

On the NSE, ICICI Bank, Adani Ports and Tech Mahindra were the highest gainers while Power Grid, Dr Reddy's Lab and M&M lost the most.

--IANS

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