MUMBAI: After five days of rally, the Indian equities markets benchmark Sensex witnessed lacklustre session on Tuesday as gains in auto and banking stocks were offset by the losses in IT and metal scrips.
The 30 stock S&P BSE Sensex started the day with a gain of around 200 points at 56,663.87 points. However, the index soon slipped into the red hitting a low of 56,265.27 points.
At 12.31 pm, the Sensex was trading 26.5 points or 0.05 per cent down at 56,459.52 points against its previous day's close at 56,486.02 points.
The Sensex is trading in the negative after five consecutive days of the rally. The Sensex had gained 935.72 points or 1.68 per cent on Monday.
The broader Nifty 50 of the National Stock Exchange was trading 45.15 points 0.27 per cent down at 16,826.15 points against its previous day's close at 16,871.30 points. The Nifty had gained 240.85 points or 1.45 per cent on Monday.
Metal and IT stocks witnessed selling pressure. Tata Steel slumped 3.21 per cent to Rs 1255.50.
Infosys slumped 1.89 per cent to Rs 1856. Power Grid Corporation fell 1.62 per cent to Rs 209.90. Tech Mahindra slipped 1.08 per cent down to Rs 1486.70.
The index heavyweight Reliance Industries was trading 1.35 per cent down at Rs 2385.