Equity markets close flat, metals and PSU banks drag

Equity benchmark indices wiped out early gains to close flat on Tuesday with metal and banking stocks leading the fall.

At the closing bell, the BSE S&P Sensex was down by 3 points at 51,935 while the Nifty 50 shed 8 points to 15,575.

Sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were mixed with Nifty private bank slipping by 0.9 per cent, PSU bank by 0.6 per cent and metal by 0.8 per cent. But Nifty IT and pharma were in the green by slim margins.

Among stocks, JSW Steel and Tata Steel cracked by 2.2 per cent each to close at Rs 695 and Rs 1,100.70 per share respectively.

ICICI Bank was down by 1.8 per cent, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank by 0.7 per cent each, Asian Paints by 1.7 per cent, SBI Life by 1 per cent and Hero MotoCorp by 0.9 per cent.

However, Adani Ports gained by 3.8 per cent, ONGC by 3.4 per cent and Bajaj Finance by 2.6 per cent.

Meanwhile, Asian stock markets rose ahead of European and US data this week that will likely offer clues on the health of the global economy.

Hong Kong stocks ended 1.08 per cent higher as tech heavyweights rebounded. South Korea's index jumped 0.56 per cent after the country's exports logged their sharpest expansion in 32 years in May.

But Japan's Nikkei closed 0.16 per cent lower.

( With inputs from ANI )

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor