Markets open lower ahead of RBI monetary policy

Rate sensitives like financials, auto among the top losers in the opening trades

Markets started in the red ahead of the of the Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy

today amid expectations of a interest rate cut. At 0922 hrs, the Sensex was down 66 points at 19,669 and the Nifty gave off 21 points to trade at 5,978. The ones dragging the benchmark indices in the opening deals were autos and financials.

In the broader markets, the midcap and smallcap indices started in the green, gaining 0.05-0.1%.

Overnight, in the US markets, stocks closed about 1% higher on Thursday, led by tech shares, after weekly jobless claims figures pointed to improving labor market conditions a day before the closely watched monthly payroll report.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.89%, at 14,831. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 0.94%, at 1,597. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 1.26%, at 3,340.

Asian shares rose on Friday after an interest rate cut by the European Central Bank added to hopes that more stimulus from yet another major central bank will help shore up the global economic recovery.

ECB President Mario Draghi also said the ECB stood ready to ease further if needed, dealing a blow to the euro currency as investors looked elsewhere for better returns.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.3%, with South Korean stocks gaining 0.2% in early trade. Japanese financial markets are shut for holidays and will reopen on Tuesday.

back home, among the sectoral indices, IT and Consumer Durables were the only ones in the green, up 0.1-0.8%.

On the other hand, rate sensitives like Bankex, Auto and Realty indices slipped 0.7-1% in the opening trades. Oil & Gas, PSU, Capital Goods, FMCG and Power indices too started in the red, losing 0.1-0.6%.

The top gainers among the Sensex stocks were Bharti Airtel which gained over 2% after its board approved allotment of around 20 million equity shares to Qatar Foundation Endowment SP at a price of Rs 340 per share for a total consideration of Rs 6,796 crore.

The other notable movers were the IT names like TCS, Infosys and Wipro adding 0.4-0.6%.

On the losing side were auto names Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto, Hero Motocorp and Maruti Suzuki, down 0.6-1.4%.

In the financial space, ICICI Bank, HDFC, SBI and HDFC Bank gave off 0.7-1.3%.

ONGC and Reliance Industries losing 0.5-0.8% were the major losers from the Oil & Gas space.

The market breadth was negative on the BSE. 612 stocks declined while 481 stocks advanced.