Stock market sees volatile trading in morning session

In the Sensex pack, Wipro, HCL, Tech Mahindra and Infosys were the major gainers while PowerGrid, Hindustan Unilever, Reliance, Bharti Airtel and ICICI Bank were among the laggards. | Photo Credit: Reuters

Equity benchmark indices witnessed see-saw movements in early trade on February 12, mainly tracking mixed trends in global markets.

Opening on a positive note, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 52.48 points or 0.07% to 71,647.97 points in early trade. However, it shed the gains and fell 147.85 points or 0.21% to 71,447.64 points.

Similarly, the broader Nifty rose 30.70 points or 0.14% to 21,813.20 points before declining 44.60 points or 0.20% to 21,737.90 points.

In the Sensex pack, Wipro, HCL, Tech Mahindra and Infosys were the major gainers while PowerGrid, Hindustan Unilever, Reliance, Bharti Airtel and ICICI Bank were among the laggards.

V. K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said that rising the U.S. bond yields may trigger selling from foreign institutional investors. "So, the tug of war between the bulls and the bears is likely to continue."

"Apart from positive economic cues, a major factor supporting the market is the sustained flows to the market through mutual funds... however, the frothy valuations of the broader market are a matter of concern. From the long-term perspective, safety is in large-caps," he added.

In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 and China's Shanghai Composite were trading marginally higher. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was in the red. On Friday, European markets closed in the negative territory while the US stocks ended on a mixed note.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.52% to ₹81.76 a barrel on February 12. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) purchased shares worth ₹141.95 crore on February 9, according to exchange data.

On Friday, Sensex climbed 167.06 points or 0.23% to settle at 71,595.49 points while the Nifty gained 64.55 points or 0.30% to close at 21,782.50 points.