Sensex, Nifty flat in opening trade; banking shares gain, ITC stocks plummet

MUMBAI: Equity indices were largely flat amid volatile trading during early hours on Wednesday following weak global cues. At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was down by 46 points at 37,486 while the Nifty 50 edged lower by 13 points to 11,113. 

At the National Stock Exchange, most sectoral indices were in the negative zone except for auto, financial services and realty.

Among stocks, Yes Bank was down by 8 per cent at Rs 42 per share after gaining for two straight sessions. 

Titan, Zee Entertainment, HCL Technologies and ONGC too were in the red.However, UltraTech Cement, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Mahindra & Mahindra and ICICI Bank showed marginal gains.

Meanwhile, Asian markets were sharply lower as US-China trade frictions persisted even as officials from the two countries meet this week to work out a deal.

MSCI`s broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan was down by 0.44 per cent. Chinese shares fell by 0.47 per cent while Japan`s Nikkei slid by 0.7 per cent in its biggest decline over a week.

Hong Kong shares fell by 0.52 per cent due to persistent worries about the often violent protest against China`s rule of the former British colony.