Sensex, Nifty Retreat After Positive Start

After opening modestly higher and holding in positive territory for a brief while, the Indian stock market slipped into the red Tuesday morning with the mood turning cautious amid worries about slowing global growth and caution ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy statement.

With a few counters attracting buyers at lower levels, the market has pared some losses now.

Concerns over the impact of Chinese realty major Evergrande’s debt woes also appear to be weighing on the market.

Bank and automobile stocks are among the most prominent losers.

The benchmark 30-share BSE Sensex, which dropped to 58,352.00 after advancing to 58,779.42, is down 9.90 points or 0.02 percent at 58,481.03.

The National Stock Exchange’s Nifty index is up 9.10 points or 0.04 percent at 17,406.00. The index, which rose to 17,481.10, subsequently drifted down to 17,356.20.

Axis Bank, HDFC Bnak and ICICI Bank are lower by 1.3 to 1.7 percent. State Bank of India is down marginally, while Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank and Union Bank of India are down 0.7 to 1.1 percent.

TVS Motor, down 3.3 percent, is the biggest loser in the automobile sector. Maruti Suzuki is declining 2.5 percent, Bajaj Auto is down 1.7 percent, Hero Motocorp is lower by 1.5 percent and Tata Motors is down by about 1.3 percent. Mahindra & Mahindra and Ashok Leyland are also down in negative territory, albeit with less pronounced losses.

Larsen & Toubro, Nestle, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries and Tech Mahindra are down marginally.

Hindustan Unilever is climbing 1.8 percent, Asian Paints is rising 1.5 percent, and HCL Technologies is up nearly 1 percent. Kotak Bank, Bharti Airtel, Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys are modestly higher.

Shares of SBI Cards and Payment Services Ltd. are down more than 4 percent, following private equity firm Carlyle Group divesting 3.4 percent stake in the company through a block deal.