Equity indices muted, metal and realty stocks drop

Equity benchmark indices were in the negative zone during early hours on Monday with Nifty metal slipping by 3.4 per cent.

At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was down by 210 points or 0.43 per cent at 48,824 while the Nifty 50 slipped by 96 points or 0.66 per cent to 14,338.

Most sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the red with Nifty metal dipping by 3.4 per cent, realty by 2.5 per cent, pharma by 1.8 per cent and IT by 0.5 per cent.

Among stocks, Hindalco dropped by 4.4 pc on Monday morning to Rs 242.25 per share while Tata Steel cracked by 2.9 per cent and JSW Steel by 2.2 per cent. The other prominent losers were Tata Motors, Hero MotoCorp, IndusInd Bank, Coal India and Power Grid Corporation.

However, agro-chemicals manufacturer UPL gained by 3.1 per cent to Rs 538.80 per share. HDFC Bank, Wipro, Nestle India, Britannia and Reliance Industries also traded with a positive bias.

Meanwhile, Asian share markets pared early losses as data confirmed China's economy had bounced back last quarter due to a jump in factory output.

Chinese blue chips edged up 0.4 per cent while MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan trimmed losses and was off 0.2 per cent. Japan's Nikkei slipped 0.8 per cent and away from a 30-year high.

(ANI)

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