Nifty holds 8,450; ITC gains 2%

Benchmark indices are trading marginally weak after opening on a flat note as gains in the shares on ITC and select oil & gas companies are being wiped off by the losses select auto and bank shares.

Analysts expect trading to be volatile in this week with traders rolling over positions in the futures & options (F&O) segment from November to December 2014 series on Thursday and data on second quarter Current Account Deficit and official second quarter GDP figures due later in the week.

At 9:35AM, the 30-share Sensex was down 16 points at 28,322 and the 50-share Nifty was down 9 points at 8,454.

In the broader market, BSE midcap index has lost 0.1% and smallcap index has gained 0.1%. Market breadth in BSE is balanced out with 622 declines against 601 advances.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors were net buyers in Indian equities worth Rs 1,168.94 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional stock exchange data.

Buzzing Stocks

In a defensive market, BSE FMCG index is the lead gainer with an advance of 1.3% followed by BSE Metal and Oil & Gas indices with gains of 0.2% each.
 
BSE Realty is the top loser down 1.2% followed by Bankex, down 0.5% and Auto index, down 0.4%.

 
Bajaj Auto has declined 2.3% on currency devaluation by Nigeria which will make the purchase of two-wheelers in that country steeper by around 8%.
 
Maruti Suzuki is down 0.2%  after the company announced that the sales figure for one of its best-selling models  Wagon R has crossed the mark of 15 lakh units.
 
Bharti Airtel, down 1.3%  too has declined on devaluation of Naira, the official currency of Nigeria as the African nation is a big market for Airtel.
 
Among financials, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank have lost close to 1% as pressure of profit-booking continues to weigh on bank shares.

ITC has recovered from yesterday's slump as analysts do not see the new restrictions on the sale of cigarettes materially affecting the company's revenues. The stock is the lead gainer and has surged more than 2%.
 
Oil and gas space has seen fresh buying with ONGC and GAIL gaining 1.8% and 0.9% each.


Asian Markets

Asian stocks edged up on Wednesday after data showing the U.S. economy growing at a relatively solid pace calmed investor anxiety over slowing global growth.
 
Shanghai Composite has gained around 0.6% while Hang Seng index is up 0.2%.