Markets open marginally higher; RIL, ITC gains

Metals, banks and IT names slip in opening deals

Markets started marginally higher with the BSE benchmark index up 52 points at 20,477 and the Nifty gained 11 points to trade at 6,070 in the opening deals. The ones leading the early gains were Reliance Industries, ITC and ICICI bank.

In the broader markets, the midcap index started higher by 0.4% and the smallcap index was up 0.2%, both outperforming the Sensex which was up 0.1%.

Meanwhile, Asian share markets nudged into the red following an uninspiring performance by Wall Street, while a dip in the dollar against the yen prompted profit-taking on Japanese stocks.

Losses were light as the Nikkei eased 0.2% and inched further away from the six-month peak touched on Monday. Conviction was equally lacking elsewhere, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan 0.1% lower.

Overnight, Wall Street had faded late after upbeat U.S. data on home building and house prices were offset by a disappointing reading on consumer confidence.

The Dow Jones industrial average shed its early gains to end flat, while the S&P 500 Index eked out a 0.01% rise.

The Nasdaq managed to outperform thanks to gains in big-cap technology stocks and finished above 4,000 for the first time since the dot-com bubble burst in 2000.

Adding to the cautious mood was an escalation of political tensions in parts of Asia as the White House has called China's demands that airlines inform Beijing when flying over disputed islands in the East China Sea "unnecessarily inflammatory."

Back home, on the sectoral front, FMCG, Capital Goods, Consumer Durables, Realty, Auto and Oil & Gas indices gained 0.3-0.4%.

PSU and Power indices were up 0.1% each.

On the other hand, Metal, Bankex, IT, Teck and Health Care indices slipped 0.04-0.2%.

Tata Motors and ITC up 1% each were the top gainers among the Sensex-30.

ONGC, Gail India, Reliance Industries, L&T and Jindal Steel  up 0.4-0.8% were the other prominent gainers.

Cairn India was trading lower by 2% at Rs 319, after the company announced a buyback at a price not more than Rs 335 per share. The company will spend up to Rs  5,725 crore on the buyback.

The market breadth was positive owing to the gains in the broader markets. 538 stocks advanced while 341 stocks declined on the BSE.