Sensex, Nifty little changed; Tata Motors, TCS among top drags

The Indian equity benchmarks were little changed on Tuesday as gains in ICICI Bank , Bharti Airtel, Hindustan Unilever , Reliance Industries and Kotak Mahindra Bank were offset with losses in Tata Motors, Infosys , Tata Consultancy Services, State Bank of India and Mahindra & Mahindra. The Sensex traded in a band of 228 points and Nifty 50 index touched an intraday high of 25,417 and low of 25,356.

As of 9:22 am, the Sensex was down 62 points at 82,927 and Nifty 50 index slipped 15 points to 25,369.

Most Asian stocks saw modest gains on Tuesday, driven by expectations of an interest rate cut from the US Federal Reserve. However, Japanese markets faced pressure due to a stronger yen ahead of an upcoming Bank of Japan meeting.

The region followed mixed signals from Wall Street’s overnight session, where a drop in tech stocks weighed down the Nasdaq Composite. In contrast, the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a record high, as hopes for lower US interest rates spurred investments in economically sensitive sectors.

US stock index futures were flat during Asian trading hours, with overall volumes subdued due to market holidays in China and South Korea.

The prospect of a 50 basis-point rate cut by the Federal Reserve continues to support sentiment across Asian markets.

Back home, selling pressure was broad-based as ten of 13 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading lower led by the Nifty Auto index's 0.63 per cent fall. Realty, INT, select banking and financial services shares were also facing selling pressure.

On the other hand, pharma, FMCG and oil & gas shares were witnessing buying interest.

Mid- and small-cap shares were trading on a muted note as Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices were trading on a flat note.

Tata Motors was top Nifty loser, the stock fell 2 per cent to Rs 968. HDFC Life, Tata Consultancy Services, Maruti Suzuki , Eicher Motors, Wipro , Adani Ports, Bajaj Finserv, Tata Steel and Infosys were also among the losers.

On the flipside, Britannia Industries, Tata Consumer Products, Divi's Labs, Hindustan Unilever , Apollo Hospitals, NTPC and ONGC were among the gainers.

The overall market breadth was positive as 1,661 shares were advancing while 1,281 were declining on the BSE.