Staff of Reuters Read for 2 minutes Reuters, BENGALURU, June 29 – On Tuesday, Indian equities were mostly flat, with losses in financial sectors offset by gains in heavyweight Reliance Industries, which was on course to end a five-day losing streak. The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index was down 0.06 percent at 15,805.10 by 0356 GMT, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.05 percent at 52,711.15. Industry leaders and economists’ concerns that India’s new federal guarantees on bank loans to small firms and the tourist sector, unveiled by the finance minister on Monday, would not be enough to support economic development kept sentiment in check. Concerns about new coronavirus infections in Asia pushed broader Asian equities lower in global markets, with MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan falling 0.11 percent. The Nifty Bank index lost 0.56 percent in Mumbai trading. HDFC Life Insurance Co fell 1.44 percent, making it one of the Nifty 50’s worst performers. According to media sources, Standard Life, the insurer’s promoter, is selling a 3.46 percent stake at a discount to HDFC Life’s Monday closing price. Reliance Industries, a conglomerate, boosted the market with a 0.57 percent increase. Anuron Kumar Mitra in Bengaluru contributed reporting, and Uttaresh.V edited the piece.
