Sensex, Nifty volatile after early gains, IT and FMCG stocks up

Equity benchmark indices erased early gains in a choppy trade during early hours on Tuesday after the US Federal Reserve announced unprecedented measures to support the economy reeling from coronavirus pandemic. At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was down by 40 points to 25,941 while the Nifty 50 edged lower by 20 points to 7,591. Sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were mixed with Nifty IT ticking up by 4.1 per cent, pharma by 2.8 per cent, and FMCG by 1.5 per cent. But Nifty private bank was down by 1.4 per cent and realty by 1.3 per cent. Among stocks, IT major Infosys was the top gainer, moving up 7.9 per cent to Rs 568.40 per share. Tech Mahindra edged up by 3.8 per cent, HCL Technologies by 3.5 per cent and Wipro by 3.4 per cent. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries was up by 3.1 per cent to Rs 911.65 while FMCG majors Hindustan Lever and Britannia gained by 6.1 per cent and 2.8 per cent respectively