Indian shares edged lower on Tuesday tracking global peers, with gains in state-run lenders such as State Bank of India being capped by losses in tech stocks such as Wipro.
Investor sentiment was subdued as renewed fears of a trade war between the United States and China and a slump in tech shares such as Amazon.com triggered a global selloff.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.28 per cent.
On the other hand, shares of state-run lenders rose after India’s central bank allowed banks to spread their bond trading losses, in a move that will likely boost the profitability of banks.
“Investors are a bit cautious as global markets are down. However, banks are doing well today because of RBI’s latest move, which is supporting the markets,” said Neeraj Dewan, director, Quantum Securities.
The broader NSE Nifty was down 0.24 per cent at 10,186.85 as of 0523 GMT, while the benchmark BSE Sensex was 0.18 per cent lower at 33,194.31.
The Nifty PSU bank index climbed as much as 2.9 per cent and was on track to snap a two-day losing streak.
Meanwhile, Wipro and Tech Mahindra Ltd led losses on the NSE index, falling over 2 per cent each, as investors booked profits. Both stocks had gained in the last three sessions.
Oil marketers also gained, with Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd rising 3.6 per cent while Indian Oil Corp Ltd and Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd were up over 1 per cent each.
“Since crude is stabilising, some buying is coming back as oil marketing stocks had been oversold due to high crude prices,” Dewan added.
Motherson Sumi Systems rose as much as 5.2 per cent after the auto parts maker’s unit signed a deal to buy Reydel Automotive for $204 million in cash, reports Reuters.
Shares of tyre makers such as MRF Ltd and Apollo Tyres Ltd also gained due to falling rubber prices.