Markets flat; IT scrips hold ground

Realty, Power and Metal names among the top losers

Markets recovered from morning lows in early noon trades as gains in IT heavyweights capped the losses in SBI, ITC and ONGC. At 1145 hrs, the Sensex was down three points at 25,557 and the Nifty was marginally in red at 7636.

The broader markets were mixed with the smallcap index up 0.2% and the midcap index was marginally in green.

The rupee regained from a session low of 60.46, its lowest since June 18, as sentiment for emerging markets soured after news of a downed Malaysian airlines jet at the Ukraine.

The rupee was trading at 60.32 compared with its Thursday's close of 60.18/19.

Sectors & Stocks

IT index up over 2% was the only sectoral index in green. Meanwhile, profit taking in Realty, Power and Metal dragged the respective indices down by 0.7-1%.

IT heavyweights were the top gainers among Sensex- 30, in an otherwise subdued market. TCS and Wipro were up 3% each along with Infosys up 0.5%.

Cipla, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Steel and Mahindra & Mahindra up 0.5-1% were the other names in green.

Among the major losers of the hour were BHEL, Hindalco, Tata Power, NTPC and Coal India down 1.5-3%.

In individual names, Advani Hotels and Resorts (India) moved higher by 10% to Rs 87.80, bouncing back 20% from its intra-day low. The stock has appreciated more than 100% in current week.

Rallis India gained 3% at Rs 223 after reporting a strong 35% year on year (yoy) growth in consolidated net profit at Rs 42 crore the quarter ended June 2014 (Q1). The company engaged in agrochemicals business had profit of Rs 33 crore in the same quarter last year.

Muthoot Finance rallied 6% to Rs 191 on back of heavy volumes on BSE, after the company said it would apply for a small bank license

The market breadth was negative on BSE. 1293 stocks declined while 1128 stocks advanced.

Asian Markets

Asian shares sagged and a drop in Treasury yields pressured the dollar on Friday after news of a downed Malaysian airlines jet at the Ukraine-Russia border sent investors scurrying into defensive assets.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.3% after touching a two-week low, but was still poised to eke out a modest weekly gain.

Japan's Nikkei stock average tumbled 1.1% but was also on track to mark a small rise for the week.