Equity indices in negative zone but banking stocks gain

Equity markets slipped into red during early hours on Tuesday amid lack of fresh triggers at home and mixed global cues. 

At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was down by 137 points at 38,530 while the Nifty 50 slipped by 36 points to 11,438. 

However, at the National Stock Exchange, sectoral indices were mixed with the bank, auto, financial service and pharma in the green. Among stocks, the prominent losers were IndusInd Bank, Coal India, Tata Steel, HCL Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services, Grasim, Cipla and Dr Reddy's. 

However, Yes Bank gained by 2.6 per cent at Rs 42.50 per share while ICICI Bank was up by 1.1 per cent and Axis Bank by 0.8 per cent. Oil marketing firms Bharat Petroleum Corporation and IndianOil Corporation also gained by 5.8 per cent and 3.09 per cent respectively. 

Meanwhile, Asian share prices ticked up as some investors hoped that the fourth quarter of the current calendar will bring progress in resolving the US-China trade war. 

White House Trade Adviser Peter Navarro dismissed reports that the Trump administration is considering delisting Chinese companies from US stock exchanges. 

Japan's Nikkei rose by 0.74 per cent while MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan inched up by 0.24 per cent. 

The rest of the region also saw gains as with exchange-traded fund inflows. 

Chinese markets will be shut for a week to mark 70 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China.