Markets flat in opening trades; Nifty nears 7,650

Markets have made a flat opening today tracking mixed global cues.  

By 9:30, the Sensex has gained by 26 points at 25,547 mark and the Nifty gained by 8 points at 7,639 levels.

The dollar held firm with higher Treasury yields on Wednesday after a surprisingly high reading for U.S. inflation threatened to give a hawkish tilt to the Federal Reserve's policy outlook later in the session.

The risk was enough to keep Asian share markets on the defensive with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan off 0.16 percent.

Japan's Nikkei was the only real mover adding 0.42 percent as a softer yen helped offset disappointing trade numbers.

US stocks ended Tuesday, 17 June 2014 slightly higher, with the main benchmarks gaining for the third consecutive day. However, gains were muted as headlines of violence in Iraq did not abate.

The Fed's two-day policy meeting ends with a statement at 1800 GMT, followed half an hour later by a news conference with Chair Janet Yellen. The central bank will also provide its latest forecasts for growth, inflation and interest rates.

Back home, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 48.02 crore on Tuesday, 17 June 2014, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.

On the sectoral front, BSE Capital Goods, Realty, FMCG and Bankex indices have declined marginally. However, sectors like Consumer Durables, Auto and IT have gained slightly.

The main gainers on the Sensex are Cipla, ONGC, GAIL, Infosys, Sesa Sterlite, M&M, Bajaj Auto and Tata Power.

On the losing side, ICICI Bank, Sun Pharma, Maruti Suzuki, Axis Bank and Hero Moto have declined between 0.5-1%.

The broader markets are outperforming the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices have gained by nearly 1% each.

The market breadth in BSE remains firm with 939 shares advancing and 352 shares declining.