Markets open flat; metal stocks down

Metal stocks were trading lower on account of hike in iron-ore royalty

Markets opened flat with steel stocks losing ground in ealry trades on the back of hike in royalty rates.

At 9:18AM, the 30-share Sensex was up 27 points at 26, 346 and the 50-share Nifty was up 4 points at 7,879.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 251.36 crore on Wednesday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.

On Wednesday, markets snapped their six-day winning streak on profit taking after sharp gains which lifted the benchmark share indices to their record highs.

On the global front, Asian shares were trading lower after a private survey showed weaker-than-expected Chinese manufacturing data. HSBC/Markit Flash China Manufacturing Purchasing Manager's Index slipped to 50.3 in August compared with 51.7 in July, against a forecast of 51.5.

Except for Nikkei all other indices were trading lower. Nikkei was up 0.8%, Hang Seng was down 0.8%, Shanghai Composite fell 0.3% and Straits Times was trading flat.

US stocks came off their day's highs to end firm on Wednesday after the US Fed indicated that it is likely to raise interest rates soon. The Dow Jones ended up 59 points at 16,979. The S&P 500 gained 5 points to close at 1,987. The Nasdaq Composite ended 1 point lower at 4,526.

Mid-cap IT and pharma shares were among the gainers in early trades.

In the Sensex pack, Reliance Ind, Tata Motors and M&M were among the gainers while Tata Steel was trading lower.

In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices were trading 0.4-0.5% higher.

Market breadth was strong with 809 gainers and 265 losers on the BSE.