The key equity indices erased all early gains and traded with minor losses in morning trade. The Nifty slipped below the 24,450 mark. PSU bank shares declined after advancing in the past two consecutive trading sessions. Trading could be volatile due to weekly F&O series expiry today.
At 10:29 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex slipped 122.01 points or 0.16% to 80,834.49. The Nifty 50 index lost 57.65 points or 0.24% to 24,409.80.
The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.10% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.15%.
The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,976 shares rose and 1,641 shares fell. A total of 181 shares were unchanged.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty PSU Bank index slipped 0.81% to 7,076.55. The index rallied 4.82% in past two consecutive trading sessions.
Indian Overseas Bank (down 2.53%), Punjab & Sind Bank (down 2.17%), UCO Bank (down 2.08%), Indian Bank (down 1.98%), Central Bank of India (down 1.67%), Punjab National Bank (down 1.51%), Union Bank of India (down 1.36%), Canara Bank (down 1.11%), Bank of India (down 1.09%) and Bank of Maharashtra (down 1.09%) declined.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Railtel Corp declined 1.39%. The company has received a work order worth Rs 10.64 crore from GAIL for MPLS & Point-to-Point Leased Line Links.
Mastek shed 0.86%. The company’s chief financial officer (CFO), Arun Agarwal has resigned.
Ipca Laboratories slipped 1.13%. The company has received necessary approval for voluntary closure of its wholly owned subsidiary, Ipca Pharmaceuticals SA de CV, Mexico.