Indian equities continued to trade on a flat note in early trade for the second day on Monday. IT and FMCG stocks gained while metals and power stocks fell the most.
At 10.57 a.m., the Sensex was trading up 81.60 points or 0.14% at 59,097.49 with 19 components gaining. Meanwhile, the Nifty was trading lower by 7.20 points or 0.04% at 17,592.35 with 21 components falling.
Major gainers in the 30-share index were ITC (3.05%), Hindustan Unilever (2.57%), Bajaj Finserv (1.70%), Bajaj Finance (1.58%), HCL Technologies (1.51%), Reliance Industries (1.01%) and ONGC (0.71%).
On the other hand, Tata Steel (4.67%), HDFC (0.99%), Power Grid Corporation Of India (0.95%), Bajaj Auto (0.89%), State Bank of India (0.67%), Titan (0.38%) and HDFC Bank (0.34%) were the biggest losers in the Sensex.
Market breadth was positive with 1,603 advances against 1,488 declines.
On global front, Asian stocks slipped on Monday and U.S. futures wavered amid challenges from the China Evergrande Group debt crisis and a Federal Reserve meeting this week that’s expected to hint at moving toward tapering stimulus. Australian shares fell and Hong Kong futures were in the red earlier. Markets in Japan, China and South Korea are closed for holidays. SGX Nifty slipped 0.7% and US Dow Future slipped 0.5%.
U.S. stock indexes closed lower on Friday, slumping for the week, as bearish momentum gathered steam after a reading on consumer sentiment held close to a roughly 10-year low. Stronger-than-expected data seemed to have fuelled Fed tapering expectations rather than the bulls' appetite. Both Nasdaq and S&P 500 declined 1% each while Dow Jones slipped 0.5%. Ten-year Treasury yields have risen ahead of the Fed meeting this week (Wednesday) where policy makers are expected to start laying the groundwork for paring stimulus.
European market markets fell on Friday as investors digested mixed economic data, uncertainty over monetary policy and concerns about the spread of the Delta variant of Covid-19. UK, France and Germany Index declined 1% each.
