IT shares gain in a flat market; Infosys up 1%

Benchmark indices were trading flat with a negative bias as gains in IT names were offset by auto majors which were in red on account of weak October sales data.
 
At 9:17 AM, Sensex was down 19 points at 27,846 while Nifty was down 8  points at 8315. On Friday, FIIs were net buyers to the tune of Rs 1,754.73 crore.

Global Markets

Nikkei is closed today on account of Culture Day (bunka no hi) in Japan which is celebrated for promotion of culture and the love of freedom and peace. However, Hang Seng has declined around 0.2% on unexpected dip in China's factory activity to a five-month low in October while Shanghai Composite is up around 0.2%.

 
Sectors and stocks

Among sectors, BSE Auto index has slipped nearly 1% followed by BSE Consumer Durables index. Auto shares are under pressure on account of the disappointing October sales numbers. M&M is among the top losers, slipping around 2% in morning deals followed by Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki, which have lost around 1.2% each.
 
IT stocks, on the other hand, are among the the major gainers in early trading. Infosys and TCS have gained around 1-1.2% each while Wipro has gained 0.5%.
 
Among financials, while Axis Bank, HDFC Bank and SBI have gained between 0.5-1% each ICICI Bank is own around 0.3%. Bharti Airtel has rebounded from the slump it suffered last week and is trading with a gain of around 1%.

Shares of aviation companies – Jet Airways (India) and SpiceJet - have rallied up to 7% in early morning deals after state oil marketing companies cut jet fuel (ATF) prices by 7.3% from Saturday. This is the fourth straight reduction in prices since August on back of falling international oil rates. The move would help these companies improve profitability by reducing operating costs.