Markets flat in opening trades; HDFC & M&M top losers

The main losers on the Sensex are HDFC, M&M, HDFC Bank, Tata Steel and Bajaj Auto

Markets have turned absolutely flat after making a marginally lower opening weighed down by global markets and financials.

By 9:30, the Sensex was lower by 2 points at 25,189 and the Nifty slipped by 3 points at 7,531 mark.

On the global front, Asian shares struck a cautious tone on Tuesday as the double-whammy of a deepening conflict in Iraq and a gas dispute between Ukraine and Russia sapped investors' appetite for risk.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.15%. Japan's Nikkei bucked the trend with rise of a 0.5%, though it was still down on the week so far.

Oil prices remained near nine-month highs as militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have seized a large part of northern Iraq, forcing US President Barack Obama to consider options for military action to support Iraq's besieged government. US crude futures stood at $106.76 per barrel, having climbed as high as $107.68 on Friday.

Overnight, US stocks closed slightly higher on Monday, supported by a flurry of merger news, but turmoil in Iraq drove oil prices up and kept trading choppy.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 5.27 points, or 0.03%, to end at 16,781. The S&P 500 gained 1.62 points, or 0.08%, to 1,938. The Nasdaq Composite added 10.45 points, or 0.24%, to close at 4,321. Energy stocks were the day's winners, with the S&P energy index up 0.5%. The S&P financial sector index was the biggest decliner, down 0.4%.

Back home, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 194.10 crore on Monday, 16 June 2014, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.

The rupee is trading at 60.46 per dollar vs previous close of 60.16.

On the sectoral front, BSE Bankex has slumped by almost 1% followed by counters like Capital Goods, Realty, Power, Oil & Gas, Metal and FMCG, all trading marginally. However, BSE IT index has gained by almost 1%.

The main losers on the Sensex are HDFC, M&M, HDFC Bank, Tata Steel and Bajaj Auto.

On the gaining side, Bharti Airtel, TCS, Tata Motors, Wipro and Sesa Sterlite have gained by 1% each.

The broader markets are outperforming the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices have gained between 0.4-0.5%.

The market breadth in BSE remains positive 791 shares advancing and 469 shares declining.