Domestic equity markets see volatile trading in morning session

Mumbai: Domestic equity markets witnessed volatile trading in the morning session on Tuesday, with Sensex and Nifty trading flat as investors await corporate results to assess demand scenario in the economy.

A day after reclaiming the 60,000-level, the 30-share benchmark Sensex opened in the negative territory and was trading marginally lower at 60,045.23 points.

As many as 14 Sensex constituents gained, while 16 declined in early trade.

The broader 50-share Nifty was trading flat at 17,740.60 points after opening marginally lower. As many as 25 scrips of the key index were in the positive zone, while an equal number were in the negative territory.

Asian markets witnessed mixed trends as Japan's Nikkei 225 was trading higher, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng and China's SSE Composite Index were quoting lower.

On Monday, European markets closed in the red, while the US shares ended on a mixed note as investors await financial results of big tech companies and fresh economic data amid concerns in certain quarters about possible recession.

In a pre-market open note, Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC securities, said the Indian market could open flat to mildly higher, despite largely lower Asian markets today and mixed US markets on Monday.

Asia-Pacific markets were largely lower on Tuesday, following a similar session on Wall Street as investors look ahead to big tech earnings later this week, he added.

Buoyed by strong buying in financial stocks, Sensex and Nifty had settled with gains on Monday, with the 30-share index reclaiming the 60,000-level.

Mitul Shah, Head of Research – Institutional Desk at Reliance Securities, in a pre-market open note said the markets are in the thick of the earnings season both in India and globally.

Investors will closely analyse the quarterly numbers and the management commentary on the demand scenario in the economy. Commodity prices, including Brent crude prices, will depend on the extent of the recessionary conditions in the US and recovery in China, he said.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers on Monday as they offloaded domestic equities worth Rs 412.27 crore, as per data available with BSE.