Markets trade with a negative bias

Weakness in financials and IT negate gains in oil & gas and realty scrips

Markets remained flat in the morning trades with the Sensex down 32 points at 18,477 and the Nifty slipped 11 points to trade at 5,563 as selling in financials and IT space weighed on the indices.

The broader markets moved a tad higher with the midcap index up 0.4% and the smallcap index gaining 0.5%, continuing to outperform the Sensex which was down 0.2%.

Bankex, IT, Capital Goods and FMCG indices dropped 0.3-1% while Oil & Gas and Realty indices advanced 1%.

On the currency front, Rupee gained seven paise to 54.80 against the dollar in early trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange on increased selling of the US currency by exporters.

Among individual stocks, Jindal Steel was marginally higher after Kotak Institutional Equities upgraded Jindal Steel and Power to "add" from "reduce", with a target price of Rs 420, noting a steep correction in share prices in the past three months.

Timken India iwas up 3% to Rs 156, extending its previous day’s about 5% rally, after the company said it has received a strong response for its institutional private placement issue. The issue was subscribed by over five times.

Essar Oil has surged over 3.4% to Rs 81.40 after the company said that it has completed the process for exiting the corporate debt restructuring loan facility set up in December 2004 to help cover the construction costs of its Vadinar refinery in Gujarat.

_______________________
(Updated at 0930 hrs)

Markets started on a flat note on Friday, amid weak Asian cues.

At 9:30AM, the 30-share Sensex was down 22 points at 18,484 and the 50-share Nifty was down five points at 5,570.

In the broader markets, both the mid and smallcap indices advanced 0.4% each, outperforming the BSE benchmark index which was down 0.2%.

Japanese equities soared and the yen continued its tumble against the dollar and the euro on Friday after the Bank of Japan's unprecedented monetary expansion, but Asian shares eased ahead of US jobs data amid rising concern over the American economy. Japan's Nikkei stock average was again the outperformer, extending gains sharply to jump more than 4% soon after trading started, topping the 13,000 level for the first time since August 2008.

Among others, Shanghai Composite, Hang Seng and Straits Times 0.1-2.1% down.

US stocks ended marginally higher on Thursday after the Bank of Japan unveiled a stimulus plan to boost its economy. However, weak jobs data in the US continued to weigh on market sentiment.

The Dow Jones gained 56 points at 14,606, Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 6 points, or at 1,560. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 6 points to end at 3,225.

Back home, index gainers included Auto, Realty, Oil & Gas, Health Care and PSU indices up  0.2-0.7%. Meanwwhile, FMCG, Bankex and IT started in the negative, down 0.2-0.7%.

Maruti Suzuki up 2% along with Gail India, Tata Motors, BHEL, Bajaj Auto, Reliance Industries and ONGC up 1% were the top gainers among the Sensex-30 in the opening trades.

On the negative side, ITC, TCS, HDFC and ICICI Bank opened down 1-2% followed by Wipro, NTPC, Infosys and HDFC Bank down 0.2-0.6%.

Shares of sugar manufacturer have rallied up to 20% in opening deals after the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved a proposal to abolish the levy-sugar mechanism, under which private millers have to sell a specified quantity of the sweetener to the government at concessional rates.

Bajaj Hindustan, Shree Renuka Sugars, Balarampur Chini Mills, Mawana Sugars, Oudh Sugars and Dhampur Sugar Mills are trading higher in the range of 10 to 20%.

The market breadth was positive on the BSE. 650 stocks advanced while 332 stocks declined.