Markets open flat ahead of Q3 earnings

BSE- mid-cap & small-cap out performed benchmark indices

Indian shares open flat with benchmark index Sensex falling from near two year high in opening trades on Wednesday as investor's booked profits in banks and software makers amid caution ahead of key earnings announcement this week.

The key results to watch out for are Bajaj Auto which is scheduled later today, HCL Technologies and Hero MotoCorp on 17 Jan while HDFC Bank, ITC, Reliance Industries and Wipro on Jan 18.

At 9:20AM, the 30-share Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange fell 8.6 points and opened at 19,978.19 and the 50-share Nifty dropped 7.6 points at 6,049.00 in opening trades.

Adding to the woes was concerns over global growth recovery after World Bank on Tuesday sharply cut its 2013 outlook for the world economy to 2.4 percent from its last forecast in June of 3.0 percent, blaming an unexpectedly sluggish recovery in developed countries for holding back global growth.

Asian  markets dropped with the regional benchmark index heading for its first decline in three days, as Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average retreated from a 32-month high on profit-booking amid earnings concerns.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 0.24% to 23,324, Taiwan's Weighted index fell 0.3% to 7,742,  Singapore's Straits Times was up 0.27% to 3,204  while China's Shanghai Composite declined 0.47% to 2,314 and Japan's Nikkei dropped 1.5% to 10,713 .

Back home, oil &gas, PSU, FMCG , healthcare gained while metals, capital goods, IT, banks, auto indexes dropped on BSE.

Among key Sensex stocks,  Tata Motors & Mahindra and Mahindra fell 0.7% each, SBI and ICICI Bank fell 0.5%, Sterlite Industries and Jindal Steel down 0.1% and 0.5%,  TCS and Infosys dropped 0.4 and 0.2% on BSE.

Among gainers,  Reliance Industries was up 1%, ITC gained 0.6%, among autos,  Bajaj Auto and Maruti Suzuki was up 1% and 0.4% on BSE.

The broader markets gained with mid-caps and small-caps  rising 0.1-0.2% on BSE.

The market breadth was positive. Out of 670 stocks traded, 401 stocks advanced compared to 233 declines on BSE.