Equity indices subdued banking stocks dip

Equity benchmark indices were subdued during early hours on Tuesday due to drag in banking stocks after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said gross non-performing assets of the lenders may increase from 7.5 per cent in September 2020 to 14.8 per cent under severe stress. At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was down by 117 points or 0.24 per cent at 49,152 while the Nifty 50 edged lower by 11 points or 0.08 per cent to 14,474. Sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were mixed with Nifty private bank slipping by 0.5 per cent, pharma by 0.4 per cent and IT by 0.3 per cent. But Nifty metal rose by 1.5 per cent and auto by 1.2 per cent. Among stocks, the prominent losers were Power Grid Corporation, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Nestle India, Hindustan Unilever, Titan and Sun Pharma. However, rose by 4.4 per cent to Rs 141.60 per share after the government-owned company said it will consider a proposal to buy back shares.