Sensex, Nifty turn choppy on mixed global cues

Mumbai: Benchmark indices turned choppy Tuesday as investors turned cautious amid mixed global cues. The benchmark BSE Sensex opened 150 points higher on buying by domestic institutional investors (DIIs) and rupee recovery.

It, however, pared gains and was trading 11.37 points, or 0.03 per cent, up at 34,485.75. The index had gained 97.39 points in the previous session. Similarly, NSE Nifty too turned choppy and was trading marginally lower at 10,344.05.

The rupee made a cautious recovery of 18 paise to 73.88 against the dollar in early trade. DIIs remained buyers on the domestic bourses and bought shares worth a net of Rs 1,974 crore on Monday, while foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares to the tune of Rs 1,805 crore, as per provisional data.

Tata Motors was the biggest loser on Sensex, falling 5 per cent, after Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) reported 12.3 per cent decline in global sales at 57,114 units in September, hit by lower demand in China. JLR also plans for a two-week shutdown of its West Midlands plant at the end of October to cope with weakening global demand for its luxury vehicles.

Other major losers were Asian Paints, Wipro, Bajaj Auto, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel and Kotak Bank shedding up to 1.92 per cent. Top gainers include Yes Bank, Coal India, HDFC, Adani Ports, L&T, Hero MotoCorp, TCS, Axis Bank, Tata Steel, Sun Pharma, HDFC Bank, HUL, IndsuInd Bank, Vedanta, PowerGrid, RIL and ONGC, rising up to 4.60 per cent.

In sectoral terms, bank, auto, FMCG and IT indices fell up to 1 per cent. Globally, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.48 per cent, Shanghai’s Composite rose 0.49 per cent and Taiwan up 0.18 per cent in their early session. Japan’s Nikkei, however, was down 0.92 per cent. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended higher in Monday’s trade.