Equity indices edge lower, metal scrips lose shine

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 5 (ANI): Equity benchmark indices edged lower during early hours on Tuesday on the back of weak global cues and concerns over the recent spike in coronavirus infections.
At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was down by 198 points or 0.41 per cent at 47,979 while the Nifty 50 slipped by 55 points or 0.39 per cent to 14,078.
Most sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the negative terrain with Nifty metal dropping by 1.4 per cent, PSU bank by 1.1 per cent and auto by 0.9 per cent.
Among stocks, metal stocks suffered with Hindalco retreating by 1.9 per cent to Rs 249.25 per share while JSW Steel and Tata Steel dropped by 1.8 per cent and 1.4 per cent respectively.
Tata Motors lost by 2.7 per cent, ONGC by 2.2 per cent, Mahindra & Mahindra by 1.7 per cent and IndianOil Corporation by 1.5 per cent.
However, KNR Constructions gained by 3.3 per cent after the company bagged orders worth of Rs 604 crore for the Chennai Kanyakumari Industrial Corridor Project.
The other gainers included Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, HDFC, HDFC Life, Wipro and Hindustan Lever.
Meanwhile, Asian shares fell amid uncertainty about US Senate runoffs in Georgia which could have a big impact on incoming President Joe Biden's economic policies.
Uncertainty about the Georgia vote and worries about rising coronavirus infections sent Wall Street sharply lower a day earlier.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan fell by 0.34 per cent on Monday.
Japanese shares lost by 0.25 per cent after a report that the government will curb business hours in Tokyo and surrounding cities from Thursday. (ANI)