Sensex, Nifty flat in early trade; auto, banking shares retreat

Stocks lost early gains to trade flat in the morning session as banking, auto, FMCG and energy shares witnessed selling despite strong global cues.

The BSE Sensex was trading down by 36.06 points or 0.11 per cent at 33,776.69 at 09:50 am.

The 30-share index had risen by 148.38 points, or 0.43 per cent, to 33,961.13 in opening trade with all sectoral indices led by realty, power and infrastructure advancing by up to 0.82 per cent.

The broader Nifty also surrendered gains to trade down by 3.95 points or 0.04 per cent at 10,431.60.

SBI dropped the most by over 1 per cent among Sensex scrips. Hindustan Unilever, Kotak Bank and Asian Paints also dropped up to 1 per cent.

Stocks failed to hold onto gains after positive core industry data. Infra sector grew at the fastest pace in more than a year at 6.8 per cent in November 2017 on the back of robust performance in segments like refinery, steel and cement.

The big gainers that supported the Sensex include ONGC, NTPC, Coal India, Dr Reddy's, HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank, and Bharti Airtel, rising by up to 1.87 per cent.

In the auto space, Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors and M&M too were in keen demand largely on the back of encouraging sales data for December and gained up to 1.51 per cent.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 1.58 per cent while Shanghai Composite index up 1.18 per cent in early trade today. Japanese markets remained closed today for an extended new year holiday.