Indices open flat, Nifty around 11,150

Tuesday,   14-May-2019   09:44 AM (IST)

Benchmark indices opened flat amid a drop in global markets after escalation in trade tensions between the United States and China on Monday. Beijing has retaliated against Washington’s decision to hike tariff on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods and has ordered higher tariffs on $60 billion of US goods, effective from June 1. At 9:24 AM, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading 25 points, or 0.07 per cent, higher around 37,110 levels, with Larsen & Toubro, Tata Steel, Infosys, and ONGC being the top losers, all down over 1 per cent. The broader Nifty50 index was down 26 points, or 0.24 per cent, at 11,122. Among sectoral indices, Nifty Pharma index was the top gainer, up 0.72 per cent, while Nifty Media and Nifty Metal indices were the top drags, both down 0.7 per cent. The broader market continued to bleed. The S&P BSE MidCap index tumbled 58 points, or 0.41 per cent, to trade at 14,067 levle, while the S&P BSE SmallCap index was down 61 points, or 0.44 per cent, at 13,741 level. Brent crude remained volatile amid concerns over supply shortage. At 7:10 am, Brent crude futures were trading at $70.27 a barrel, up 0.06 per cent from its previous close. Shares in Asia extended losses on Tuesday following sharp falls on Wall Street overnight on Monday. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.4 per cent, touching its lowest level since February 15. Australian shares were also down by 1.2 per cent while Japan’s Nikkei stock index slid 1.9 per cent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.38 per cent to 25,325, the S&P 500 lost 2.41 per cent to 2,812 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 3.41 per cent to 7,647 levels.