Sensex, Nifty give up early gains; M&M falls over 6%

• From the Sensex pack, Bajaj Finserv, Bharti Airtel and Asian Paints were some of the gainers.
• Apart from M&M, Tech Mahindra, NTPC and Axis Bank were among the laggards.
• In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei was up 0.46% and Chinese index Shenzhen was up 0.34%.

Equity benchmark indices, the Sensex and the Nifty, slipped after opening strongly in early trade on Thursday, aided by sustained buying by foreign institutional investors and value-buying in bellwether stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 188.56 points and the broader NSE Nifty advanced 69.35 points in early trade. At the time of publishing the Sensex is trading flat with a gain of 77 points while the Nifty is 34 points in the green.

From the Sensex pack, Bajaj Finserv rose 1.62% and Bharti Airtel climbed 1.31%. Asian Paints, Tata Motors, Sun Pharma and Infosys were the other major gainers.

From the 30-share club, M&M, Tech Mahindra, NTPC and Axis Bank were among the laggards.

Mahindra & Mahindra on Wednesday, after market hours, announced the acquisition of a 3.53% stake in RBL Bank for ₹417 crore. The stock, at the time of publishing is down 6.7%.

Market outlook

According to V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, the benchmark indices are expected to stay in positive territory after the US Federal Reserve's move on interest rate hike.

He further noted that the quarterly results of domestic companies are coming on expected lines with banks showing robust performance and IT companies coming up with weak guidance.

"Early results from FMCG companies indicate pressure on volume growth while auto results are broadly good with improving performance by Tata Motors and Bajaj Auto.

"Nifty has rallied around 5% in the last one month mainly on FII buying and sustaining strong inflows into domestic mutual funds. Institutional support is likely to continue," he added.

Snapping its three-session losing run on Wednesday, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 351.49 points or 0.53% to settle at 66,707.20. The broader NSE Nifty advanced 97.70 points or 0.50% to end at 19,778.30.

In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei was up 0.46% and Chinese index Shenzhen was up 0.34%.

European markets finished broadly lower on Wednesday with CAC 40 of France closing 1.35% down and Germany's DAX ending 0.49 lower. The UK's FTSE 100 slipped 0.19%.

In the US market S&P 500 closed 0.02% lower, and Dow Jones 0.23% higher.

Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 1.03% higher at USD 83.77 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital markets on Wednesday as they bought shares worth Rs 922.84 crore, according to exchange data.