Markets gave up early gains to trade lower; Sensex quotes 309 points lower

Mumbai, Jan 21 (PTI) Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty faced volatile trends in early trade on Tuesday, surrendering their initial gains to trade lower, following heavy selling in Reliance Industries and Zomato.

Traders said the market appears to be awaiting triggers from both global as well as domestic developments.

The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex climbed 224.28 points to 77,297.72 in early trade. The NSE Nifty also went up by 81.55 points to 23,426.30.

However, soon both the benchmark indices slipped in negative territory. The BSE benchmark quoted 309.55 points lower at 76,763.89, while the Nifty traded with a cut of 41.45 points at 23,303.30.

From the 30-share blue-chip pack, Zomato, Adani Ports, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Reliance Industries, NTPC, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and Bharti Airtel were among the laggards.

UltraTech Cement, Tata Motors, Sun Pharmaceuticals, ITC, HCL Technologies, Bajaj Finserv, Asian Paints and Larsen & Toubro were the gainers.

Domestically, the spotlight remains on major corporate earnings and anticipation surrounding the upcoming budget, according to market experts.

Further, they said that on the global front, all eyes on the US markets, particularly their reaction following the return of Donald Trump as the US President. Trump declared tariffs against Canada and Mexico in the near future but stopped short of declaring any tariffs against China.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Shanghai are trading in positive territory.

US markets were closed on Monday on the occasion of Martin Luther King Jr Day.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.05 per cent to USD 80.19 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 4,336.54 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.

On Monday, the 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 454.11 points to settle at 77,073.44 and NSE Nifty climbed 141.55 points to close at 23,344.75.