Sensex, Nifty trade with marginal gains; ITC slumps 3%, metal stocks shine

Key domestic indices opened higher on Tuesday but soon turned flat tracking weak global markets. BSE benchmark Sensex jumped 146.42 to open at 66,531.20, while broader NSE Nifty50 opened at 19,729.35, up 57 points.

By 9.30 am, Sensex was trading 86.63 points, or 0.13 per cent higher at 66,471.41, while Nifty50 was trading at 21.25 points, or 0.11 per cent to 19,693.60.

UltraTech Cement, Tata Motors, JSW Steel, Hindalco, Tata Steel, M&M, Eicher Motors, Grasim, PowerGrid were the top gainers in the Nifty index in early trade.

On the other hand, ITC, SBI Life, Tech Mahindra, UPL, Asian Paints, Infosys, Tata Consumers, TCS, BPCL, Bajaj Finserv, and ICICI Bank were the top drags.

ITC slipped 2.75 per cent by 9.40 am, down to Rs 457.95, after the company announced that its board has in-principle given the approval to demerge its hotel business.

Broader markets indices were outperforming key indices, as Nifty Midcap 150, Nifty Smallcap 250, and Nifty Midsmallcap 400 gained 0.54 per cent each, followed by Nifty Smallcap 100 rising 0.52 per cent, and Nifty Midcap 100 gaining 0.48 per cent. India Vix, on the other hand, slumped almost 9 per cent.

Sectorally, only FMCG and IT indices were trading in red, as the former slipped 0.58 per cent, and the latter 0.34 per cent. Nifty Metal jumped 0.80 per cent, Nifty Realty gained 0.61 per cent, and Nifty Auto gained 0.62 per cent.