Sensex, Nifty give up opening gains, Eternal shares lead, Infosys top laggard

The Indian benchmark indices slipped after making gains in early intraday trade, with the BSE Sensex declining 16 points to 81,408, while the Nifty dipped 0.05% to 24,961. The Nifty crossed the 25,000 threshold but could not hold it for long.

The Nifty 50 index saw an even split of 25 companies advancing, and the other half declining. The Sensex 30 index had 17 stocks advancing, and 13 declining.

Eternal rebounded back to the top, after a three-day losing streak. The company's shares are up 1.70%, trading at ₹330, at the time of writing. Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone stood second, rising by 1.25% from its previous closing. The company had announced yesterday that Mandhata Build Estate Ltd, its step-down subsidiary, has acquired a 100% stake in Dependencia Logistics Pvt Ltd from Windson Projects LLP for ₹37.77 crore.

NTPC and ONGC trailed behind the top gainers, each rising by 1%.

Meanwhile, IT stocks tumbled in today's session, with Infosys emerging as a top laggard, declining by 1.24%, standing at ₹1513. It was followed by Dr Reddy's Labs, which dipped by 1.11%, at ₹1289. Wipro and Tech Mahindra also decreased by 0.77% and 0.84%, respectively.

Amongst sectoral indices, Nifty Media outshone its peers, up by 1.68%. Nifty Oil and Gas followed suit, after taking cues from the marginal rise in Brent Crude and crude oil prices. Nifty IT slipped back down after being on the top for two sessions. The IT index went down by 0.77%.

All broader indices were trading in the green, with Nifty Midcap 50 growing 0.31% and Nifty Smallcap 50 by 0.35%.

India's volatility index or VIX rose by 0.75%, showcasing cautious investor sentiment in today's trade.