Markets continue to trade flat

Profits booking in financials, Reliance Industries and L&T weighs on the benchmark indices

Markets continue to trade flat with a negative bias owing to weakness in financials and heavyweights like Reliance Industries and L&T.

At 1024 hrs, the Sensex was down 10 points at 20,236 and the Nifty slipped five points at 6,165.

Among sectoral indices, IT and Realty continues to lead gains.

Among individual stocks, TTK Prestige has rallied 6% to Rs 3,659, extending its previous day’s 2% gain, after reporting 42% year-on-year jump in net profit at Rs 28 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2013 on the back of higher operational income.

Aarti Drugs is locked in upper circuit of 10% at Rs 210 on NSE after reporting a robust 86% year-on-year  jump in net profit at Rs 13.81 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2013.

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(Updated at 0931 hrs)
Markets started on a flat note with a positive bias on back of subdued global cues. Profit booking in financials and pharma stocks weighed on the indices in opening trades. The BSE benchmark index, Sensex was up 21 points at 20,268 and the Nifty was up four points at 6,174.

The broader markets started in the green with both the mid and smallcap indices gaining 0.2-0.3% in the opening trades, both outperforming the Sensex which was up 0.02%.

In international markets, US equities sagged on Thursday after John Williams, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, said the Fed could begin easing back on the monetary gas pedal this summer and end bond buying late this year.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 0.28%, to close at 15,233. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 0.50%, to end at 1,650. The Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 0.18%, to finish at 3,465.

In Asian equities, Japan's benchmark Nikkei share average eased 0.2%, after opening down 0.7% as Japanese shares ran into some profit-taking after their recent rally. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was little changed at 480.79.

Markets in Hong Kong and South Korea are closed on Friday for holidays.

Back home, among the sectoral indices, Bankex, Health Care and Consumer Durables started in the negative, down 0.4-0.6%.

Meanwhile, IT, Realty, FMCG, Oil & Gas, Power, Capital Goods and PSU indices gained 0.3-0.9%.

The top gainers among the Sensex-30 were IT heavyweights, Infosys and TCS up 1% each along with Tata Power, Tata Motors, ONGC, Wipro, ICICI Bank, NTPC and UTC, up 0.4-0.5%.

Among the ones in the red were HDFC Bank, Dr Reddys Lab, HDFC, Cipla, Hero MotoCorp, Hindalco, Maruti Suzuki, Gail India and SBI losing 0.5-0.8%.

In individual names, JM Financial rallied 11% to Rs 26.10, extending its previous day’s 16% surge after its board approved issue of 11.65 million warrants to former Citgroup chief Vikram Pandit and Hari Aiyar  at a price of Rs 19.50 per share on preferential basis.

The market breadth was positive owing to the strength in the broader markets on the BSE. 559 stocks advanced while 379 stocks declined.