Indian shares flat as auto rally offsets IT, bank losses - Reuters India

People walk past the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building in Mumbai, India, November 4, 2020. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas

BENGALURU, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Indian shares inched away from record levels and were muted early on Tuesday, as auto stocks gained for a fourth straight session and offset losses in IT firms and some private banks.

The NSE Nifty 50 index (.NSEI) was up 0.08% at 17,963.60, while the S&P BSE Sensex (.BSESN) was up 0.03% at 60,163.01 by 0348 GMT. Both indexes had scaled record peaks in the previous session.

IT stocks led losses on Tuesday, falling for a second session, with the Nifty IT index (.NIFTYIT) down 0.7%. Shares of HCL Technologies (HCLT.NS) fell nearly 2% and were among the top losers on the blue-chip index.

Lender ICICI Bank (ICBK.NS) fell nearly 1% and was the top drag to Nifty's private bank index (.NIFPVTBNK), which lost 0.35%.

Nifty automakers (.NIFTYAUTO) added 0.76% as Tata Motors (TAMO.NS) extended gains for a fourth straight session, a day after the Jaguar Land Rover maker said global wholesales in the second quarter were up 24% from a year earlier.

Asian shares inched lower and the MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) fell 0.9% as a global energy shortage blighted investor sentiment and intensified inflationary fears.

Reporting by Chandini Monnappa in Bengaluru; Editing by Ramakrishnan M.

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