Markets open flat as earnings eyed

Asian markets recover on hopes of BoJ easing

Indian shares opened on a flat note this Wednesday on caution ahead of the Oct-Dec earnings starting this Friday.

Infosys, the bellwether stock of Information Technology index, will unveil its third quarter performance amid fear software maker may cut its revenue guidance for the next quarter.

The 30-share Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange rose 27.69 points and opened at 19,770.21  and the 50-share Nifty rose 4.5 points   at 6,006.20 in opening trades. At 900 hrs IST, the SGX Nifty was down 8  points at 6,038.

U.S. stocks slumped on Tuesday, as investors braced for Corporate America to start reporting quarterly results. The Dow Slipped 55 points while Nasdaq shed 7 points in trades.

Alcoa Inc, the largest aluminium producer in the U.S., reported a fourth-quarter profit of $242 million, in line with expectations.

Asian markets too traded flat with a positive bias on hopes of policy easing by Bank of Japan to boost growth in world's third-biggest economy .

Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.3% to 23,180, Taiwan's Weighted index rose 0.3% to 7,745,  Singapore's Straits Times was up 0.24% to 3,213 . Also China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.1% to 2,277 while Japan's Nikkei rose 0.5% to 10,559.

Back home, auto, ral-estate, IT, oil & gas, healthcare sectors gained while FMCG was among the laggards on BSE.