Ten of 15 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading higher led by the Nifty Metal index's 1.7 per cent gain
The Indian equity benchmarks were trading in a choppy manner as losses in Reliance Industries, Tata Consultancy Services, ICICI Bank, Infosys, Axis Bank were offset with gains in HDFC Bank, Tata Steel, Ultratech Cement, Sun Pharma and Titan. The Sensex was trading in a range of 459 points Nifty 50 index touched an intraday high of 17,617 and low of 17,480.
As of 10:56 am, the Sensex was down 66 points at 58,721 and Nifty 50 index declined 13 points to 17,547.
"Nifty is likely to witness sideways move during the day. On technical grounds, Nifty has an immediate resistance at 17,650. If it closes above that, further upside can be expected towards 17,770-17,870 mark. On the flip side 17,440-17,350 will act as strong support levels. It’s a stock specific market trade calls with strict stop loss," brokerage firm Nirmal Bang said in a note to its clients.
Ten of 15 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading higher led by the Nifty Metal index's 1.7 per cent gain. Nifty PSU Bank, Private Bank, Bank, Financial Services and select Pharma shares were also witnessing buying interest.
On the other hand, Realty, FMCG, IT and Auto indices were trading lower.
Mid- and small-cap shares were trading on a flat note as Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 0.11 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index advanced 0.2 per cent.
Hindalco was top Nifty gainer, the stock rose 2.6 per cent to Rs 526. ONGC, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Grasim Industries, IndusInd Bank, Ultratech Cement, Shree Cements, Adani Ports, HDFC Bank, Divi's Labs and Sun Pharma also rose between 1-2.5 per cent.
On the flipside, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Consumer Products, ITC, Bajaj Auto, Bharti Airtel, Titan, Reliance Industries, Eicher Motors, Maruti Suzuki, Hindustan Unilever and Wipro were among the losers.
The overall market breadth was positive as 1,894 shares were advancing while 996 were declining on the BSE.