Indian shares were unchanged early on Tuesday, as investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of the start of quarterly earnings, even as the rise in new domestic Covid-19 cases persisted.
At 9.30 am, the blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index and the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex were both up 0.1% each at 18,022.05 and 60,458.59, respectively. Both the indexes had added more than a per cent on Monday.
All eyes are on the third-quarter earnings season, which will kick-start with top IT heavyweights Tata Consultancy Services , Wipro and Infosys reporting their results on January. 12.
Meanwhile, India recorded 168,063 new Covid-19 infections in the last 24 hours, slightly lower than Monday's additions of 179,723 cases.
Nifty's PSU Bank index, which had rallied for seven sessions, edged up 0.08%. The Nifty Auto Index, which added nearly 2% in the previous session, was up 0.01%.
Shares of Vodafone Idea slumped 15% after the telecom operator approved conversion of spectrum interest and government dues into equity.