Markets see a flat opening

Auto stocks gain ahead of Maruti numbers

Markets have opened flat this morning, shrugging off cues from Wall Street and Japan. The Sensex is up 40 points at 19,964. Nifty is at 6,025 - up 7 points.

U.S. stocks closed mixed Thursday, with shares of Apple weighing on the Nasdaq, as investors focused on the latest corporate results and economic data. The Dow added 0.33% at 13,825.

Japanese stocks soared on Friday, boosted by fresh multiyear lows for the yen, while the rest of Asia looked set to end the week on a less positive note. Nikkei added 2% to 10,832. Kospi, Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite slipped half a per cent each.

Broader markets underperformed. The BSE mid-cap index has slipped 16 points at 6,833. Small-cap index has dropped six points to 7,063.

BSE auto index has gained 0.6% at 10,902. Capital goods, FMCG and healthcare indices are also in the green. However, the realty index is down 0.5% at 2,082. Metal and power spaces are also showing some weakness.

Maruti Suzuki has gained 1.8% at Rs 1,565 ahead of its quarterly earnings. Tata Motors is up 1.6% at Rs 298.

Bharti Airtel, TCS and Dr Reddys are some of the other key gainers.

On the other hand, Tata Power has slipped 1.3% at Rs 106. Coal India has declined 1% at Rs 339.

Mahindra & Mahindra, ONGC and Hero MotoCorp are down. Market heavyweight - Reliance - is still reeling under pressure and are down 0.5% at Rs 909.

Among individual stocks, Lupin rose 0.42% to Rs 591.60 after the company said its subsidiary has received final approval from USFDA to market Levonorgestrel Tablets in the United States.

SKS Microfinance has rallied almost 9% to Rs 178 in opening trades on NSE after reporting a net profit of Rs 1.2 crore for the third quarter ended December 2012 (Q3) against net loss of Rs 428 crore in the same quarter previous year.

BSE market breadth was negative. Out of 1,609 stocks traded 900 stocks have declined while 636 stcoks have advanced.