Equity benchmark indices opened on a flat note but swung wildly in the early hours on Tuesday with traders contemplating next moves after record gains last week.
At 10:15 am, the BSE S & P Sensex was down 52 points at 39,631 while the Nifty 50 shed 15 points to 11,910.
At the National Stock Exchange, sectoral indices of autos, IT, media, metals, and pharma were in the positive zone. But banks, financial services, and FMCG were in the red.
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Among the early gainers were JSW Steel, Vedanta, Hindalco, Coal India, and Yes Bank. However, Bharti Infratel, Grasim, HDFC, Larsen & Toubro, and Hero MotorCorp lost between 1 and 3%.
Meanwhile, Asian stocks chalked up modest gains in thin trading. Equity benchmarks in Japan nudged higher but were muted by lower-than-usual trading volumes due to Monday market closures in the United States and Britain.
There was some relief though as EU election results eased concerns about political difficulties in the bloc.