Equity indices on downswing, auto and pharma stocks lose

Equity benchmark indices drifted lower during early hours on Monday amid concerns over rising inflation and bond yields.

At 10:15 am, the BSE SandP Sensex was down by 417 points or 0.82per cent at 50,472 while the Nifty 50 edged lower by 99 points or 0.66 per cent to 14,883.

Among stocks, Mahindra and Mahindra lost by 2.4 per cent to Rs 858.05 per share while Maruti Suzuki skidded by 1.4 per cent.

Eicher Motors was down by 1.3 per cent to Rs 2,550.50 per share.

The other major losers were Larsen and Toubro, HDFC, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, HCL Technologies and Tata Consultancy Services.

However, metal stocks gained substantially with Hindalco up by 4.5 per cent, Tata Steel by 3.3 per cent and JSW Steel by 3.2 per cent.

Besides, HDFC Bank, Adani Ports, ONGC and Asian Paints traded higher.

Meanwhile, Asian share markets inched up as expectations for faster economic growth and inflation globally boosted commodities.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.2 per cent.

Japan's Nikkei recouped by 1 per cent and South Korea by 0.4 per cent.