Equity benchmarks swung between gains and losses after opening at fresh records. Some profit-taking was seen in banking, metal and FMCG stocks, which had run up sharply in the past few sessions.

After hitting lifetime highs in pre-open trade, share indices gave up gains as profit booking kicked in. Tepid cues from global markets and caution ahead of year-end holidays kept traders from placing aggressive bets.

At 10:05 AM, the BSE Sensex was trading at 33,801, down 36 points, while the Nifty50 was ruling at 10,450, slipping 13 points.

Shares of Oil and Natural Gas Corp rose 2% as brokerage firm Macquarie has initiated coverage on the stock with an “outperform” rating.

Shares of Welspun Enterprises gained as the board decided not to invest in Welspun Financial Services, but will use the funds for its infrastructure business.

Shares of Edelweiss Financial Services gained for the fourth consecutive session and rose 1% after the company said it will acquire the securities business of Religare Enterprises.

In broader markets, the BSE Midcap was up 0.28%, while BSE Smallcap gained 0.56%.

PSU Bank, Metal, Pharma and FMCG Index are the top loser on the NSE, while Nifty Realty, IT, Media and Auto Index were the top gainers.

GAIL (+1.8%), ONGC (+1.7%), Hero MotoCorp (+1.3%), Lupin (+1.2%) and Maruti (+0.8%) were the top gainers on the Nifty50.

Tata Steel (-2.2%), HPCL (-1.5%), Dr. Reddy’s (1.4%), Bajaj Auto (-1.3%) and Adani Ports (-1%) were the top losers in today’s trade. India VIX dropped 0.04%.

Out of 1,981 stocks traded on the NSE, 924 advanced, 640 declined and 417 remained unchanged today.

A total of 99 stocks registered a fresh 52-week high in trade today, while four stocks touched a new 52-week low on the NSE.

source: indiainfoline.com