Equity indices witness lacklustre trading, FMCG stocks tumble

Equity benchmark indices traded lower during early hours on Thursday tracking weak global cues as investors globally pondered over the economic impact of coronavirus pandemic.

At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was down by 108 points or 0.34 per cent at 31,578 while the Nifty 50 edged lower by 39 points or 0.42 per cent at 9,232.

Except for Nifty FMCG and financial services, all sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the positive terrain with thin margins.

Hindustan Unilever slipped by 2.8 per cent after the company's 4.23 per cent equity changed hands in a block deal. Reports said Britain-based GlaxoSmithKline was to offload shares worth Rs 26,000 crore in the FMGC major.

Britannia slipped by 2.7 per cent while Nestle India lost by 1.6 per cent. The other prominent losers were Bharat Petroleum Corporation, ONGC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bharti Airtel and Wipro.

However, Adani Ports gained by 3.2 per cent to Rs 279 per share. Private lenders IndusInd Bank and Axis Bank gained by 2.5 per cent each while metal majors JSW Steel and Tata Steel were up by 1.6 per cent each.

Meanwhile, Asian shares shed early losses after China reported that its exports rose 3.5 per cent in April on a year earlier.

The surprise stoked speculation the Asian giant could recover from its coronavirus lockdown quicker than first thought and support global growth in the process.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan was back to near flat while Japan's Nikkei added 0.27 per cent and South Korea's Kospi moved up by 0.36 per cent. 

-ANI

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