Markets trading flat with positive bias, ITC leads

Markets trimmed most of the early gains and were trading flat in early noon deals, amid weak Asian cues, as gains in index heavyweights help offset losses in Hindustan Unilever and select bank shares.

At 11:30AM, the 30-share Sensex was up 17 points at 19,822 and the 50-share Nifty was up 5 points at 5,912

The rupee today rose by 19 paise to 58.92 in late morning trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market on increased selling of the US currency by exporters and banks.

Japan's Nikkei share average fell to a two-week low on Friday morning, as selling accelerated on the back of a firmer yen and disappointing quarterly earnings from the likes of Canon Inc and Advantest Corp. The Nikkei was down 2.5% and the Shanghai Composite lost 0.5%. However, the Hang Seng was trading flat while Straits Times was up 0.2%.

Among the sectoral indices on the BSE, the Metal, Bankex, Power, FMCG indices were down  0.2-1.2% while IT, Capital Goods, Healthcare, Oil and Gas were up 0.5-0.6%.

In the Sensex pack, index heavyweights Reliance Industries, Infosys were up nearly 1% each. ITC which witnessed profit taking rebounded from its early lows and was up 1.5% at Rs 364.

Other Sensex gainers include, Sun Pharma and engineering major L&T.

Hindustan Unilever was among the top Sensex losers amid profit taking and the FMCG major was down 3% at Rs 666.

In the banking space, HDFC Bank was down 1.6% and PSU banking major SBI slipped 1.8%.

Among other shares, DLF is trading higher by 1% at Rs 177 after the real estate major said it has signed a definitive agreement to sell its 74% equity stake in its the Life Insurance Joint Venture - DLF Pramerica Life Insurance Company to Dewan Housing Finance Corporation and its group entities.

SKS Microfinance has surged 8.5% to Rs 108 after reporting a net profit of Rs 5 crore for the quarter ended June 2013 (Q1-FY14) against the loss Rs 39 crore in the corresponding quarter the previous year helped by increase in loan disbursements.

Jet Airways (India) has soared as much as 11% to Rs 374 on back of heavy volumes on reports that Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) will consider the company’s proposed stake sale to Abu Dhabi-based carrier Etihad on Monday.

Biocon is trading higher by 4% at Rs 312 after reporting a better-than-expected consolidated net profit at Rs 94 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2013 (Q1) mainly on account of strong performance in the biopharma segment.

In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap index and Small-Cap indices erased early gains and were down 0.2-0.4%.

Market breadth was positive with 1,035 gainers and 792 losers in early trades.