Equity indices trade lower on weak global cues, UPL dips 12 pc

Equity benchmark indices eased from a record high during early hours on Thursday following steep falls on Wall Street overnight and negative bias in Asian markets. At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was down by 340 points or 0.74 per cent at 45,764 while the Nifty 50 lowered by 120 points or 0.89 per cent at 13,409.

All sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the red with Nifty PSU bank down by 2.9 per cent, realty by 1.7 per cent, metal by 1.4 per cent and IT by 0.6 per cent. Among stocks, agricultural solutions provider UPL dipped by 11.85 per cent to Rs 434.25 per share after yesterday's phenomenal gain.

Shares of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) fell by 7.6 per cent after it said the government will sell up to 20 per cent stake in the company through an offer for sale to raise Rs 4,374 crore. The other prominent losers were Tata Motors, Tata Steel, ONGC, GAIL, IndianOil Corporation, IndusInd Bank and Wipro. However, those which showed marginal gains were Maruti Suzuki, Nestle India, Titan, SBI Life and Hindalco.

Meanwhile, Asian equities lost after falls on Wall Street as US lawmakers struggle to reach an agreement on a new stimulus package. MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan eased by 0.3 per cent while Japan's Nikkei fell by the same margin.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell by 0.41 per cent and South Korea's Kospi slipped by 0.29 per cent. (ANI)