Sensex, Nifty erase gains; Metals weak, NTPC soars 3%

Equity benchmark indices were seen paring opening gains on Monday as metal stocks led the decline. The BSE Sensex turned volatile, trading around 73,800. The Nifty50 index was off the fresh high of 22,441 it made in early deals.

NTPC, Power Grid surged 1-3 per cent, leading gains on the Sensex. Bajaj Auto, Coal India and Adani Ports were the additional Nifty winners.

On the flip side, JSW Steel, Tata Steel led losses among largecaps after CLSA downgraded the two stocks to ‘sell’, reducing their target prices. Titan, Nesle, Asian Paints, Eicher Motors and Tata Consumer were other frontline drags.

In the broader market, BSE Smallcap index fell 0.3 per cent, its Midcap counterpart was just above the flatline.

Among other stocks, MOIL surged 5 per cent on reaching 1.51 lakh tonnes of manganese ore output in Feb, up 15 per cent YoY. Sales rose 18 per cent to 1.56 lakh tonnes.

Nifty Media and Metal pockets lost most by up to 1 per cent. Nifty Pharma and Cons Durables held firm gains of up to 0.7 per cent.