NIFTY stays slightly higher after advancing in the previous session

The key equity barometers traded with limited gains in morning trades. Nifty moved in a range of 24143-24010. Nifty FMCG, Nifty Metal and Nifty IT shares advanced, while Nifty Healthcare Index and Nifty Pharma shares retreated.

NIFTY edged up 0.12% in last session and lost 1.24% over last one-week.

At 12:15 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, inched up 177.59 points or 0.23% to 77,134.86. The Nifty 50 index edged higher by 47.50 points or 0.20% to 24,127.90.

The broader market failed to keep pace with frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index inched down 0.33% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index posted modest gains of 0.26%.

The market breadth was fragile. On the BSE, 2339 shares gained and 2476 shares declined. A total of 238 shares were unchanged.

Nifty FMCG index rose 1.11% to 46536. The index has declined 6.30% in last one month and slumped 18.07% over last one year. ITC, edging up 4.02%, led the gainers followed by Emami, inching higher 3.48% and Marico, adding 0.86%, respectively. Out of 15 index constituents, 9 are reporting gains today.

Nifty Metal index inched up 0.86% to 13307. The index has edged up 3.73% in last one month and surged 41.79% over last one year. Welspun Corp, moving higher 5.14%, led the gainers followed by Jindal Stain., gaining 4.87% and Lloyds Metals, up 1.45%, respectively. Out of 15 index constituents, 11 are reporting gains today.

Nifty Healthcare Index index retreated 1.53%. The index has posted modest gains of 1.11% in last one month and registered sharp gains of 17.73% over last one year. Laurus Labs, down 3.24%, led the losers followed by Mankind Pharma, edging lower 1.89% and Divi's Lab., easing 1.33%, respectively. Out of 20 index constituents, 13 are reporting loss today.

Asian markets were marginally lower on Tuesday. China’s Shanghai composite is marginally lower by 0.08%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is trading lower by 0.73%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 is modestly lower by 0.15%.

In Europe, German DAX eased 0.24%, UK’s FTSE 100 ticked up 0.29% and French CAC edged lower 0.79%.

In Commodities, MCX Crude oil is up 0.72% to trade at Rs 8,143 per barrel.