Sensex jumps over 173 points in early trade after two-day decline; turns choppy later

Asian Paints, Hindustan Unilever Limited, UltraTech Cement, Bharti Airtel, Maruti, M&M and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the major gainers

Benchmark indices bounced back on Tuesday after a two-day sharp fall, with the Sensex jumping over 173 points in early trade, but later turned choppy.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 173.39 points higher at 54,644.06 in early deals. The NSE Nifty gained 50.65 points to 16,352.50.

Both the benchmark indices were trading flat later in a highly volatile trade.

Among the Sensex firms, Asian Paints, Hindustan Unilever Limited, UltraTech Cement, Bharti Airtel, Maruti, M&M and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the major gainers.

In contrast, Infosys, Tata Steel, Reliance Industries and Titan were the laggards.

"The mother market US has turned distinctly weak with Nasdaq, S&P 500 and Dow at 1-year lows. European markets are moving in tandem with US markets. Relatively India is doing better thanks to consistent buying by DIIs and retail investors," said V.K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul were trading lower, while Shanghai quoted marginally higher.