Equity benchmarks erased opening gains led by PSU Bank, metal, media, realty and financial services.

Equity indices had opened higher, gaining strength from continued rebound in global equities, amid broad-based gains led by automobile, fast moving consumer goods and information technology companies. However, key indices erased opening gains due to the downtrend in PSU Bank, metal, media, realty and financial services.

10:12 am Market Check: The market looked to continue its momentum from the start of this week and began on a strong note. However, the Street soon gave up all of its gains and is currently trading mildly higher, following selling among financials, especially the Bank Nifty, along with midcaps. The Nifty continues to trade around 10,600.

Among sectoral indices, Nifty Auto, meanwhile, has continued to trade in the green despite cuts of around quarter of a percent.

At 10:01 AM, the BSE Sensex was trading at 34,479, up 33 points, while the Nifty50 index was trading at 10,593, up 10 points.

The BSE Midcap Index gained 0.15% and the BSE Smallcap Index rose 0.08%.

Shares of Punjab National Bank extended losses and fell 7% after the bank said the quantum of fraudulent transactions in the Nirav Modi scam case may increase by another $204.2mn. The Nifty PSU Bank fell 1.2% in the early session.

Shares of Ambuja Cements fell 4% and were the worst hit on Nifty50 after the company said it has temporarily shelved its plan to merge with ACC due to “some constraints.”

Volatility index India VIX rose 1.53% to 13.9050.

GAIL (+2%), ONGC (+1.7%), TCS (+1.3%), RIL (+1.2%) and Hero MotoCorp (+1.2%) were the top gainers on Nifty50.

Ambuja Cements (-3.9%), ICICI Bank (-1.3%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (-1.2%), Axis Bank (-1%) and Adani Ports (-0.98%) were the top losers in today’s trade.

Out of 2,011 stocks traded on the NSE, 781 advanced, 781 declined and 449 remained unchanged today.

A total of 10 stocks registered a fresh 52-week high in trade today, while 15 stocks touched a new 52-week low.