Indian benchmark indices traded a little higher on Tuesday led by gains in heavyweights such as HDFC, Bajaj Finance, Hero MotorCorp, HDFC Bank, among others. Strong domestic corporate earnings lifted sentiment even as wider Asian peers fell on growing fears about the economic impact from the coronavirus outbreak in China.

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At 1:25 pm, the Sensex was trading at 41,212.09, up 56.97 points or 0.14 percent and the Nifty was trading at 12,128.55, up 9.55 points or 0.08 percent.

Among sectors, Nifty Financial Services, Nifty Bank and Nifty Realty traded in green while Nifty Metal and Nifty Media were under pressure.

Broader indices also traded in the green with Nifty Midcap100 and Nifty Smallcap100 indexes up 0.25 percent and 0.31 percent respectively.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries, Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC), Bajaj Finance and Indian Oil Corporation were the Nifty50 top gainers while Vedanta, Bharti Airtel, JSW Steel, Tata Steel and Bharti Infratel remained the top losers.

Shares of United Spirits Ltd (USL) rallied over 8 percent in the early trade after global brokerage Credit Suisse upgraded the stock to ‘Outperform’ from Neutral, with a Target Price of Rs 700 per share. The brokerage said that the near-term pressures for United Spirits are now fully priced in but risk-reward is favorable.

Aptech share price fell 8 percent intraday on Tuesday following reports that billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala was being probed by the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for insider trading in the education firm. SEBI is also examining the role of other Aptech board members, including Ramesh Damani and Madhu Jayakumar, reports stated. Jhunjhunwala, who is the Aptech chairman, holds 24.24 percent stake in the company valued at around Rs 160 crore.

Globally, Asian stocks took a battering on Tuesday as the death toll from a virus in China climbed, leaving investors fretting over the widening economic fallout from the outbreak and lifting bonds on expectations central banks would need to keep stimulus flowing.

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