Equities flat amid subdued trading, Yes Bank up by 3 pc

Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices were flat during early hours on Tuesday despite buoyancy in global markets amid positive signs over US-China trade talks.

At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was up by just 1 point at 40,303 while the Nifty 50 edged lower by 5 points to 11,936. Sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were mixed with Nifty FMCG, IT and media in the red. Nifty PSU bank was up by 1.3 percent and auto by 0.8 percent.

Among stocks, Yes Bank was the top winner with a gain of 3.17 percent at Rs 68.25 per share. Reports said ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala bought 1.29 crore shares (or 0.5 percent stake) in the private lender through open market transactions a day earlier.

Tata Motors and State Bank of India gained by 1.8 percent each while Maruti and Hindalco edged higher by 1.5 percent and 1.4 percent respectively.

However, Zee Entertainment, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Coal India, Tata Consultancy Services and Sun Pharma witnessed marginal losses.

Meanwhile, Asian shares saw a rally on signs the United States and China are moving closer to a truce in their trade war. There was optimism over the US economy which is poised for solid, consumer-driven growth.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan ticked up by 0.1 percent after hitting a four-month high the previous day.

China’s mainland shares were little changed while Japan’s Nikkei rose by 1.34 percent to a one-year high.