Equity indices trade lower, HDFC twins dip

Equity benchmark indices traded lower during early hours on Tuesday due to weak global cues amid persistent concerns over the record number of new coronavirus cases worldwide.

At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was down by 262 points or 0.71 per cent at 36,432 while the Nifty 50 edged lower by 81 points or 0.75 per cent at 10,721.

Except for Nifty pharma and IT, all sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the red with Nifty PSU bank down by 2.1 per cent, private bank by 2 per cent, financial service by 1.7 per cent and metal by 1.4 per cent.

Among stocks, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) plunged 6.4 per cent after research house Citi downgrade it to sell from neutral with a target at Rs 34 per share.

Both HDFC and HDFC Bank slipped by 3.3 per cent and 2 per cent respectively after the latter conducted a probe into allegations of improper lending practices in its vehicle-financing operation.

IndusInd Bank was down by 3.47 per cent to Rs 520.90 per share while Axis Bank traded 2.3 per cent lower at Rs 429.70. The other prominent losers were Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, JSW Steel, Vedanta and Maruti Suzuki.

However, IT majors HCL Technologies, Wipro and Infosys showed marginal gains.

Meanwhile, Asian stock markets slipped as simmering US-China tensions and fresh coronavirus restrictions in California put a lid on investor optimism.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan fell by 1.2 per cent while Japan's Nikkei retreated from a one-month high and dropped by 0.8 per cent.

The United States on Monday rejected China's disputed claims to offshore resources in most of the South China Sea, a shift in tone which prompted a strong reaction from Beijing. 

-ANI