Sensex, Nifty flat in early trade;auto, banking shares retreat

Stocks lost early gains to trade flat

in morning session as banking, auto, FMCG and energy shares

witnessed selling despite strong global cues.

The BSE Sensex was trading down by 36.06 points or 0.11

per cent at 33,776.69 at 0950 hrs.

The 30-share index had risen by 148.38 points, or 0.43

per cent, to 33,961.13 in opening trade with all sectoral

indices led by realty, power and infrastructure advancing by

up to 0.82 per cent.

The broader Nifty also surrendered gains to trade down by

3.95 points or 0.04 per cent at 10,431.60.

SBI dropped the most by over 1 per cent among Sensex

scrips. Hindustan Unilever, Kotak Bank and Asian Paints also

dropped yup to 1 per cent.

Stocks failed to hold onto gains after positive core

industry data. Infra sector grew at the fastest pace in more

than a year at 6.8 per cent in November 2017 on the back of

robust performance in segments like refinery, steel and

cement.

The big gainers that supported the Sensex include

ONGC, NTPC, Coal India, Dr Reddy's, HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank,

and Bharti Airtel, rising by up to 1.87 per cent.

In the auto space, Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors and M&M too

were in keen demand largely on the back of encouraging sales

data for December and gained up to 1.51 per cent.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 1.58 per

cent while Shanghai Composite index up 1.18 per cent in

early trade today. Japanese markets remained closed today for

an extended new year holiday.

(This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)