Equity indices flat in volatile trade, Tata Motors jumps 7 pc

Equity benchmark indices were largely flat during early hours on Monday as Asian markets remained cautious ahead of the economic data that will mirror damage done by global coronavirus lockdown so far.

At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was up by 71 points or 0.22 per cent at 31,660 while the Nifty 50 edged higher by 24 points or 0.26 per cent at 9,291.

Sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were mixed with Nifty FMCG, metal and pharma in the read while realty gained by 2.3 per cent.

Among stocks, Tata Motors was up by 7.1 per cent at Rs 82.35 per share while private lenders HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank moved up by 3.7 per cent and 1.4 per cent respectively.

IT majors Infosys edged higher by 3.3 per cent, Tech Mahindra by 2.2 per cent and HCL Technologies by 1.7 per cent. The other major gainers were Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Indian Oil Corporation and metal major Vedanta.

But Bharti Infratel, Eicher Motors, Axis Bank, Cipla and Hindalco traded with a negative bias.

Meanwhile, Asian share markets were cautious on expectations of a busy week of corporate earnings reports and economic data.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan eased by 0.2 per cent in slow trade. Japan's Nikkei fell by 0.9 per cent and Shanghai blue chips by 2.4 per cent.

( With inputs from ANI )