Markets have a lacklustre start

The markets are trading marginally in the red this morning. The opening has been on expected lines, given that the Dow had a disappointing close and the Asian markets do not look too rosy. The Sensex is quoting at 17933, lower by 43 points and the Nifty is at 5386, down 12 points.

US stocks fell overnight after Fed chairman Ben Bernanke said the US economy faces "unusually uncertain" prospects. The Dow lost 117 points at 10,112 and Nasdaq dropped 28 points to 2,194. And the Asian markets have opened largely in the red; Hang Seng weakened by 61 points and Nikkei was down 63 points in early trades.

The top losers on the Sensex are RCom (weakened by 1% at Rs 186) and ICICI Bank (shed 1% at Rs 893). Steel stocks are also seeing profit-booking after the almost-vertical rise in the past couple of trading sessions. Tata Steel has lost 0.7% at Rs 525 and Sterlite has shed 0.4% at Rs 172. And index heavyweight RIL has edged lower by 0.4% at Rs 1053.

On the other hand, M&M has taken off from where it left on the previous day. The auto major has strengthened by 1.4% at Rs 625 to emerge as the leading gainer on the BSE. ACC has gained 0.9% at Rs 832 and Wipro has added 0.8% at Rs 418.

The market breadth is positive. Out of 1052 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 614 advancing stocks as against 398 declines.