Indian equity indices extend losses

New Delhi: India's key indices -- S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50 -- extended their losses from the previous trading session and declined in early trade on Tuesday.

Skyrocketing crude oil prices amid war weighed on the investors sentiment.

The Ukraine crisis pushed Brent crude oil price to $130 a barrel on Monday.

At 9.49 a.m., Sensex was 0.1 per cent or 48 points down at 52,795 points, whereas Nifty 0.2 per cent or 33 points down at 15,830 points.

"Nifty is down 15 per cent from the peak. All commodities have surged indicating imminent higher inflation. Even though the market is now oversold, sentiments are negative," said V.K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

"IT, energy, metals and pharma continue to be the safe bets in the present context. But for long-term investors, better returns are likely to come from fundamentally strong beaten down segments like high quality financials."

On the stocks front, Hindalco, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Maruti Suzuki, and HDFC Bank were the top five losers among the Nifty 50 companies, while NTPC, Power Grid Corporation of India, TCS, Tech Mahindra, and Sun Pharma the top five gainers in the opening session, NSE data showed.