Market LIVE: Sensex slips 300pts, Nifty50 below 16,800; Metals, IT drag

Live market updates: The key benchmark indices were displaying lacklustre movement in an extremely thin range following the last five-day rally. As of early noon, the BSE Sensex was up 50-odd points, while the NSE Nifty 50 added merely 10 points.

Among the Sensex 30 shares, auto majors - Maruti and Mahindra & Mahindra rallied over 3 per cent each. ICICI Bank, UltraTech Cement and Bajaj Finserv were the other top performers. Wheras, Tata Steel shed 3 per cent. Infosys, PowerGrid and Tech Mahindra were the other notable losers.

The broader markets fared better, with both the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices up 0.5 per cent each. The overall breadth too was fairly positive, with 1,939 advancing shares versus 1,282 declining stocks on the BSE so far.

Also read: Rising inflation, travel costs to bite into IT firms' margins, say analysts

Sectorally, the BSE Auto and Realty indices were the out-performers, up 1.7 per cent each. On the flip side, the BSE Metal index shed 2.5 per cent. The IT and Oil & Gas indices were also down a per cent each.

Among individual shares, Paytm slipped out of the top-100 league as the stock tanked 20 per cent in the last two trading sessions. READ MORE

This apart, Indiabulls Housing Finance surged 10 per cent. Sameer Gehlaut has resigned from the Non-Executive Director post of the company. Outgoing promoters holdings' of the co will be reclassified as public category & outgoing promoters' will not have any control over the company. 

On the global front, the European Union (EU) has imposed fourth-set of sanctions against Russian invasion in Ukraine. Meanwhile, loud explosions have been heard in the centre of Ukraine's capital Kyiv, reports suggested.