By Bharath Rajeswaran
(Reuters) -India’s equity benchmarks traded flat on Tuesday, as a post-earnings gain in HCLTech and optimism over easing U.S.-China trade tensions partly offset a pullback in financials after a three-day rally.
The Nifty 50 held its ground at 25,224.55, while the BSE Sensex nudged 0.06% lower to 82,274.7, as of 10:00 a.m. IST.
Six of the 16 major sectors logged gains, with the Nifty IT index rising 0.5%. Shares of HCLTech gained 1% after the country’s third-largest software services exporter maintained its annual revenue growth forecast of 3%-5% and beat second-quarter revenue estimates.
The metal index gained 0.5%, tracking an uptick in global metal prices as hopes of easing trade tensions lifted market sentiment. [MET/L]
Financials, banks and private lenders each dropped about 0.2%, while state-owned banks lost 0.8%, following gains of 0.8%-2.6% over the previous three sessions.
The broader small-caps and mid-caps traded flat.
“There is a heightened risk aversion and markets will remain range-bound, with quarterly earnings and evolving global tariff developments driving the trajectory,” said Siddhartha Khemka, head of research of wealth management at Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
Among stocks, LG Electronics listed at a whopping 50% premium over its issue price of 1,140 rupees. The $1.3-billion maiden share sale by the company last week became the most subscribed billion-dollar IPO in nearly two decades.
Private lender RBL Bank rose 2% on reports of advanced talks with Dubai-based Emirates NBD for a stake sale.
According to government data released on Monday, domestic retail inflation slid to an eight-year low of 1.54% in September. This development strengthens the case for a potential rate cut at the Reserve Bank of India’s policy meeting in December.
($1 = 88.6740 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
