The key equity benchmarks traded with moderate losses in the in the morning trade as concerns over U.S. tariffs and continued foreign fund outflows overshadowed pockets of optimism around earnings growth.
The Nifty traded near the 26,050 mark, while oil & gas shares extended losses for a fourth consecutive session.
At 10:30 ST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, declined 277.54 points or 0.33% to 84,683.60. The Nifty 50 index fell 90.25 points or 0.35% to 26,050.50.
The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.65% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index shed 0.37%.
The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,478 shares rose and 2,114 shares fell. A total of 194 shares were unchanged.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Oil & Gas index fell 1.29% to 11,767.50. The index declined 4.63% in the four consecutive trading session.
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (down 1.98%), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (down 1.98%), Indian Oil Corporation (down 1.33%), Petronet LNG (down 1.31%), Oil India (down 1.24%), Oil & Natural Gas Corpn (down 1.22%), Reliance Industries (down 0.71%), GAIL (India) (down 0.51%), Castrol India (down 0.43%) and Indraprastha Gas (down 0.12%) declined.
On the other hand, Gujarat State Petronet (up 0.63%), Adani Total Gas (up 0.55%) and Gujarat Gas (up 0.38%) added.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Housing & Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) added 1.29%. The company has signed an MoU with the Government of Chhattisgarh to provide financial assistance of up to Rs 1 lakh crore over the next five years for housing and urban infrastructure development.
Avantel rallied 1.58% after the company announced that it had received a purchase order valued at Rs 11.19 crore from NewSpace India.
Gland Pharma jumped 0.60%. The company received an approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for its abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) filed for Olopatadine Hydrochloride Ophthalmic Solution USP, 0.7%.