Markets flat in morning trades

Markets slipped into red as index heavyweight, Reliance dropped over 1% in trades. The Sensex, after a firm opening, dropped 87 points to a low of 17,792. The index was now down 13 points at 17,865. The Nifty was down eight points at 5,365.

Nymex crude was at $102.88 per barrel - up over 1.8%. This came after Friday's ceasefire in Libya. Oil marketing stocks were in the red.

"Tensions in the Middle East are keeping the Oil index higher and that is why the companies are doing well even though they are at major supports. In case the tensions ease out, we can expect a strong bounceback in the sector," said Nandish Patel, Derivative Analyst, Sharekhan.

All the sectoral indices were in red - led by realty, IT and oil & gas space. BSE realty index shed 1.5% to 2,024. Indiabulls Real Estate shed 3% at Rs 104. Mahindra Lifespace Developers dropped 2.5% to Rs 350. Phoenix Mills, HDIL, Unitech and Sobha Developers wee down 1-2% each. DLF slipped 1% to Rs 218.

Market heavyweights, Infosys and Reliance, dragged the markets lower this morning. Infosys dropped 0.8% to Rs 2,918.Reliance was down 0.6% to Rs 988 on fears of a slowdown in gas output from its KG-D6 basin.

Hindalco was the biggest loser among Sensex stocks. Reliance Communications slipped 1.7%, followed by Tata Power and Reliance Infrastructure. Auto stocks dipped lower - Maruti Suzuki and Bajaj Auto were down 1% each. TCS, Cipla, SBI, NTPC and BHEL also dropped into red.

Meanwhile, other metal stocks shone in the market. Jindal Steel added 0.7% to Rs 654. Sterlite and Tata Steel jumped 0.6% each. tata Steel reported on Friday that it has successfully completed the country's first-ever offering of corporate hybrid securities with an issue of Rs 1500 crore. Among other were gainers, HDFC, ITC, Jaiprakash Associates and Tata Motors.