Nifty hovers around 8,460; ITC, HDFC down over 1%

Markets continued to trade flat with stock specific action seen ahead of the expiry of November derivative contracts today.

At 1:15PM, the 30-share Sensex was down 41 points at 28,345 and the 50-share Nifty was down 10 points at 8,466.  

In the broader market, both BSE midcap and smallcap indices are outperforming their larger peers with gains of 0.4% and 0.5% each. Market breadth in BSE was positive with 1,412 advances against 1,272 declines.

On the macro-economic front, a Reuters survey has estimated the GDP growth rate for the July-September quarter to come around 5.1% down from 5.7% in the previous quarter. The official figures will be released tomorrow by the government.

Today, the 12-nation Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will hold one of its toughest and most significant meetings in recent years in Vienna, with members under pressure to address falling prices, which have sunk 30% since June.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors were net buyers in Indian equities worth Rs 181.46 crore on Wednesday, as per provisional stock exchange data.

The rupee is trading at 61.85 versus Wednesday's close of 61.84. However, the dollar is likely to firm up on the back of demand from importers to meet month-end commitments.

BSE Consumer Durables index was the top loser down nearly 1% followed by Capital Goods, FMCG, Auto and Bankex indices.

ITC and HDFC which had led gains in the previous session witnessed profit taking and were down 1.2-1.5% each.

Bank shares also witnessed profit taking at higher levels with SBI, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank down 0.6-1% each.

However, IT shares have seen fresh buying on back of positive macro-economic data from US, the primary markets for Indian IT majors. Infosys was up nearly 2% while TCS and Wipro are up 0.3% each.

Currency devaluation in Nigeria continues to weigh of stocks of Bharti Airtel and Bajaj Auto losing 1.9% and 0.3%, respectively.

Among other shares, Era Infra Engineering was locked at 5% lower circuit at Rs 6.25 on BSE after IFCI sold 14.25 lakh shares of the company at Rs 6.61 per share in a bulk deal on NSE yesterday.

Dr Datson Labs has gained around 3% to Rs 14 on BSE after being voted as "Transformational & Come Back Company of the Year" at Historic 7th Annual Pharmaceutical Leadership Summit & Business Leadership Awards 2014.