Equity indices a tad down in early trade

New Delhi, March 15: India's key equity indices, Sensex and Nifty, traded marginally lower in early session on Tuesday. At 9.36 a.m., Sensex was 0.1 per cent or 38 points down at 56,448 points, whereas Nifty was 0.1 per cent or 10 points down at 16,862 points.

"The drop in crude from $140 to $103 is a big relief and will turn out to be a tailwind for the market if the decline sustains," said V.K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Among stocks, Tata Consumers, Cipla, Maruti Suzuki, Divi's Labs, and Sun Pharma were the top gainers among the Nifty 50 companies, while ONGC, Hindalco, JSW Steel, Tata Steel, and Coal Indian the top losers.