In the early hours, benchmark indices were volatile, with the Nifty trading above 18000.
At 60489.67, the Sensex was down 55.94 points, or 0.09 percent, while the Nifty was down 4.20 points, or 0.02 percent, at 18064.30. Around 1873 shares have soared, 896 have gone down,
and 131 have remained stable, as of 10 am.
On Tuesday, Mahindra & Mahindra, ICICI Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Steel, and Bajaj Finance led the Indian equity benchmarks higher. However, the upside was confined as selling pressure hit HDFC, HDFC Bank, Infosys, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, and ITC.
As of 10:14 am, Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) stock rose nearly 3% to an intraday high of Rs 884.50, ahead of the company's September quarter earnings, which will be announced
later today.
Analysts predict a 12% drop in profit for Mahindra & Mahindra as the sector faces challenges such as a global shortage of semiconductors and a sharp rise in commodity prices.
Raw material headwinds are expected to upset margins, resulting in a profit after tax drop of 11-12 percent from a year ago.
Revenue is expected to rise 7-8 percent year over year, boosted by a 3% increase in both volumes and realisations.
In early trade on Tuesday, Asian stocks followed Wall Street higher as the passage of a US infrastructure bill boosted sentiment, while oil prices rose on the prospect of increased energy
demand in an expanding global economy.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.3 percent early in the Asian trading day.
The Nikkei stock index in Japan rose 0.06 percent, while Australian stocks fell 0.12 percent.
The Sensex was up 91 points to 60,636 at 9:39 a.m., while the Nifty 50 index was up 38 points to 18,106.
Eleven of the National Stock Exchange's 15 sector indices were trading higher, led by the Nifty Pharma index's 1.4 percent gain. The Nifty Auto, IT, Realty, and Healthcare indices
were trading 0.6-1.3 percent higher.
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The Nifty Bank, Financial Services, and FMCG indices, on the other hand, were trading with a negative bias.
Mid- and small-cap stocks outperformed their larger counterparts, with the Nifty Midcap 100 index rising 1% and the Nifty Smallcap 100 index rising 0.3 percent.
The stock of Hero MotoCorp, which rose 2.14 percent to 2,740, was the top gainer on the Nifty. Mahindra & Mahindra, IndusInd Bank, ONGC, Divi's Labs, Tata Motors, Sun Pharma,
Bajaj Auto, UPL, Wipro, and Tata Steel all saw a 1-2 percent increase in their stock prices.
Britannia Industries, HDFC, Nestle India, Power Grid, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, Indian Oil, HDFC Life, Axis Bank, and Bharat Petroleum, on the other hand, were among those who
suffered losses.
On the BSE, the overall market breadth was positive, with 1,885 shares advancing and 750 declining.