Mumbai :A bout of volatility kicked in as the benchmark Sensex slipped into the red after opening higher, but is still trading higher by 20 points amid higher Asian cues.
This came on the back of buying in power, realty, technology and healthcare sectors while financials, banking, capital goods, metal and consumer durables stocks lost ground.
The BSE Sensex opened sharply higher at 24,643.13 before quoting at 24,506.37 at 1129 hours, up 20.42 points, or 0.08 per cent.
The 50-share Nifty too moved up 2.25 points, or 0.03 per cent, to 7,438.40 at 1129 hours.
Major gainers included NTPC (up 2.72 per cent), Sun Pharma (1.49 per cent) and Maruti (1.26 per cent).
However, BHEL fell 2.68 per cent followed by Coal India (1.25 per cent), Larsen (1.24 per cent), HUL (1.23 per cent) and Lupin (1.11 per cent).
All eyes are on the US Fed which is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged at its two-day policy meet later today.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) are in sell-off mode as they net sold shares worth Rs 91.15 crore on Monday, as per provisional data.
Other Asian markets were mostly higher after the Wall Street rallied overnight on a bounce in oil prices and positive earnings, shrugging off the recent global rout—at least for now. But China shares struggled as the Shanghai Composite index tumbled 2.82 per cent.
US stocks ended sharply higher yesterday after energy stocks soared amid a rebound in oil prices. The rupee was trading lower by 15 paise at 67.98 against the American currency in early trade today at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market as the dollar firmed up overseas.
Forex dealers said increased month-end demand for the US currency from importers and dollar’s gains against other currencies overseas put pressure on the rupee.
They said, however, a higher opening in the domestic equity market, capped the rupee’s losses.
The rupee had ended 20 paise down at 67.83 against the US dollar on Monday following a renewed demand for the greenback.
The forex market remained closed yesterday for the Republic Day.
Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex rose 159.75 points, or 0.65 per cent, to 24,645.70 in early trade today.
PTI