New Delhi: Equity indices trade flat, Infosys drops 3.8 pc

Equity benchmark indices traded flat during early hours on April 15 amid an interplay of the resurgence in COVID-19 cases and the pace of vaccination. Investors tracked updates on the vaccine approval and prediction of a normal monsoon season across the country despite mixed global cues. At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was down by 204 points or 0.42 percent at 48,340 while the Nifty 50 edged lower by 40 points or 0.28 percent to 14,465. Nifty metal rose by 1.5 percent and pharma by 1.1 percent. But all other sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the red. Among stocks, IT software major Infosys dropped by 3.6 percent to Rs 1,344.40 per share after reporting a 2.3 percent sequential decline in consolidated profit at Rs 5,076 crore for the quarter ended March. Traders booked profit even as the company board approved a buyback of equity shares through an open market route amounting to Rs 9,200 crore at a price not exceeding Rs 1,750 a share, Grasim lost by 3.2 percent, Eicher Motors by 3.1 percent, Mahindra & Mahindra by 2.8 percent, Maruti Suzuki by 1.7 percent and Bajaj Finance by 1 percent. However, pharma major Cipla rose by 3.3 percent to Rs 914.70 per share. The other prominent gainers were Sun Pharma, Dr. Reddy's, Hindalco, Tata Steel, Wipro, and Adani Ports. Meanwhile, Asian shares were on the backfoot following mixed cues from Wall Street where a sharp sell-off in the largest bitcoin exchange Coinbase hit tech shares.