Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], Jan 12 (ANI): Equity benchmark indices reversed early losses to close half a per cent higher on Tuesday led by a rally in heavyweights Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank.

They had opened in the red due to drag in banking stocks after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said gross non-performing assets of the lenders may increase from 7.5 per cent in September 2020 to 14.8 per cent under severe stress.

But at the closing bell, the BSE SP Sensex was up by 248 points or 0.5 per cent at 49,517 while the Nifty 50 edged higher by 79 points or 0.54 per cent to 14,563.

Sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were mixed with Nifty PSU bank surging by 5.9 per cent, realty by 2.8 per cent and auto by 1.2 per cent. But Nifty pharma dipped by 1.1 per cent and FMCG by 0.5 per cent.

Among stocks, Tata Motors accelerated by 7.5 per cent to Rs 237.25 per share after its subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover reported retail sales for the quarter ending December 31 at 1.28 lakh vehicles, 13.1 per cent higher than the 1.13 lakh units sold in the preceding quarter but down 9 per cent on the same period last year.

GAIL rose by 4.6 per cent to Rs 142.05 per unit after the government-owned company said it will consider a proposal to buy back shares. Reliance Industries rose by 3 per cent to Rs 1,955.50 and HDFC Bank advanced by 2 per cent to Rs 1,480.55.

The other major winners were Bharti Airtel, State Bank of India, Wipro, Eicher Motors and Coal India. However, those which lost were Asian Paints, Titan, Nestle India, Hindustan Lever, Sun Pharma, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Cipla.

Meanwhile, Asian stocks were mostly higher despite Wall Street declines as political turmoil in Washington and rising coronavirus cases worldwide weighed on sentiment.

Political uncertainty dominated trading as House Democrats introduced a resolution to impeach US President Donald Trump, accusing him of inciting insurrection following a violent attack on the Capitol last week.

Japan's Nikkei ended 0.09 per cent higher at a fresh three-decade high. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended 1.32 per cent higher on continued capital inflows from the mainland.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.29 per cent, the SP 500 lost 0.66 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.25 per cent. (ANI)