Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], May 4 (ANI): Key equity indices were range-bound during early hours on Tuesday as the fear of a continuous rise in Covid cases and extended lockdowns in various states capped market sentiment.

At 10:15 am, the BSE SP Sensex was up by 34 points or 0.08 per cent at 48,752 while the Nifty 50 ticked up by 12 points or 0.08 per cent to 14,646.

Sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were mixed with Nifty PSU bank gaining by 2.3 per cent but financial service, FMCG and pharma were in the red.

Among stocks, FMCG major Hindustan Unilever dropped by 1 per cent to Rs 2,382.30 per share and Reliance Industries slipped by 1.2 per cent.

The other major losers were Wipro, HDFC Bank, Titan, Maruti Suzuki and Tata Consumer Products. However, those with marginal gains included Hindalco, ONGC, State Bank of India, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank.

Meanwhile, Asia's share markets were mostly higher as regional equity investors looked to signs of recovery from the coronavirus pandemic while major economies around the world reopen.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan was up by 0.05 per cent on the back of a positive lead from Wall Street overnight.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index opened 0.3 per cent higher. Japan and mainland China's markets remained closed for holidays, dampening trading volumes across the region. (ANI)