Equity gauges in the red, IT stocks drag

Mumbai (Maharashtra): Equity benchmark indices oscillated between losses and gains during early hours on Thursday as investor sentiments remained fragile amid concerns over the impact of coronavirus outbreak on the domestic and global economy.

At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was down by 135 points or 0.44 per cent at 30,245 while the Nifty 50 edged lower by 20 points or 0.22 per cent at 8,905.

Sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were mixed with Nifty IT down by 2.96 per cent but realty up by 2 per cent.

Among stocks, IT major Infosys dropped by 4.5 per cent to Rs 610.10 per share while Tech Mahindra slipped by 4.4 per cent and Tata Consultancy Services by 3 per cent.

Private lenders Kotak Mahindra Bank and Axis Bank dipped by 3.6 per cent and 1.8 per cent respectively. The other major losers were Bharti Infratel, Bharti Airtel, Titan and Hero MotoCorp.

However, index heavyweight Reliance Industries gained by 2.36 per cent to Rs 1,177 per share. Vedanta, UPL, Larsen & Toubro and Power Grid Corporation too traded with a positive bias.

Meanwhile, Asian stock markets were under pressure after data showed that US retail sales fell the most on record last month and manufacturing output fell by the most in 74 years.

The International Monetary Fund said growth in Asia will grind to zero for the first time in 60 years this year.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan fell by 0.6 per cent while Japan’s Nikkei was down by 1.3 per cent. (ANI)