Nifty turns lower; telecom, capital goods outperform

2:00 pm: Indian shares witness a choppy day in trade with benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty turning lower after trading mildly positive for most part of the day.

Both indices are now trading about 0.1 percent lower, even as mid and small caps still exhibit some strength, putting smaller-than-before 0.1 percent and 0.6 percent gains.

The advances-decline ratio, however, is still favourable with 1,612 stocks rising for 1,323 stocks falling on the BSE bourse.

In sector movers, oil & gas and consumer non-durable stocks have given early gains while telecom, capital goods and metals are still up 0.5 to 1 percent.

Earlier through the day, the rupee hit a one-month low to 61.8 to the US dollar in a move that dealers attributed to private oil firms buying the greenback.

Globally, Asia traded mixed the Nikkei (up 2.2 percent) and Singapore (up 0.6 percent) rising while the Hang Seng and Shanghai indices fell 1.1 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively. Key European markets are broadly marginally higher in early trade.