Markets open tad lower on profit-taking

Asian markets take a breather too after two-day rally

Markets opened on a negative note this Thursday as investors booked profit in riskier assets after two-day rally and amid caution ahead of the meetings of central banks of Japan, Britain and the euro zone for any signs of monetary stimulus to boost growth into the fragile global economy.

 

The Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex declined 30.54 points to open at 19,222.07 while the National Stock Exchange's Nifty fell 17.30 points at 5,801.30. 

 

Asian markets also paused after two day gains with China's Shanghai Composite Index declining 0.1% to 2,344 , Singapore's Straits Times dropped 0.02% to 3,291 , Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.12% to 22,809 while Japan's Nikkei gained 0.6% to 12,004.

 

Overnight, US markets ended flat with Dow Jones gaining 42.47 points to 14296.24 while Nasdaq declined 1.77 points to end at 3222.36.

 

Back home, among sectors, real-estate, auto, FMCG, bankex, metal declined while IT and healthcare gained on BSE.

The main gainers on the Sensex at this hour include Hero Moto, Wipro, L&T, Sun Pharma and BHEL whereas few losers at this hour are Tata Motors, CIL, Hindalco, RIL and JSPL.

Shares of Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) is trading lower by 3.4% at Rs 1,020 on reports that the NYSE Euronext (NYX) will sell its entire stake in the country's largest commodity exchange via block deal today.

Elder Pharmaceuticals has rallied almost 5% to Rs 335 after the company said that it will form a joint venture (JV) company with the Japanese cosmetics major, Kose Corporation to manufacture and market cosmetic products for Indian market.

The broader markets traded flat with mid-caps falling 0.02% and small- caps rising 0.1% on BSE.

 

The market breadth was firm. Out of 574 stocks traded , 323 stocks advanced compared to 225 declined on BSE.