Markets remain flat

Tata Steel extends Friday's losses

Markets continue to trade on a flat note in the morning deals. The Sensex is up 30 points at 18,714 and the Nifty has gained 12 points at 5,698 levels.

Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel is the top Sensex gainer. The stock has advanced 2% to Rs 280. TCS, HDFC Bank, GAIL India, BHEL and Sun Pharma are also among the gainers.

While, Tata Steel is trading lower by 2% at Rs 382, extending its Friday’s 3.2% fall, after reporting a net loss of Rs 364 crore for the quarter ended September 2012 against net profit of Rs 212 crore in year ago quarter due to lower realization. The Tata Group Company had posted net profit of Rs 598 crore in the April-June 2012 quarter.

Maruti Suzuki, Coal India, Hero MotoCorp, Reliance Industries and Bajaj Auto are among the leaggards.

Among the individual stocks, United Breweries (Holdings) has locked in 5% lower circuit at Rs 129 after the company said its promoters have sold more than 7% of their stake in the company through off market deal.

Ponni Sugars (Erode) has locked in 10% upper circuit at Rs 380, also its record high, after reporting almost two-fold jump in net profit at Rs 10.66 crore for the second quarter ended September 2012. The Chennai-based sugar company had profit of Rs 5.97 crore in year ago quarter.

United Spirits has soared 15 % to Rs 1,559 in opening deals on the Bombay Stock Exchange after British liquor giant Diageo Plc have made an open offer to acquire 26% shares held by the public at price of Rs 1,440 per share.      
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(Updated at 9.20 AM)

Markets have opened on a flat note in trades today ahead of Diwali with the industrial output data and inflation figures playing spolisport amid the weak global sentiments this week. The Sensex has advanced 22 points to open at 18,721 and the Nifty has advanced 15 points to open at 5,701 levels.

Despite the festive cheer, global financial woes and "fiscal-cliff" of the US issues are likely to dominate investment sentiments.

The Asian markets were trading on a subdued note as investor sentiment was weighed down by concerns over U.S. fiscal woes as well as Greece's bailout, despite improving economic data from the world's two largest economies, the United States and China.

The Shanghai Composite was up 3 points at 2,072, Hang Seng advanced 18 points to 21,402 while Nikkei was down 64 points at 8,693.

Back home, most of the Sensex stocks have opened on a flat note. HDFC is the top Sensex gainer, up 0.6% at Rs 799. Mahindra & Mahindra, Sterlite Industries, ICICI Bank, BHEL, Sun Pharma, GAIL India, Infosys, Hindalco, TCS, Cipla, Bajaj Auto and NTPC have also opened on a positive note, up 0.3-0.6% each.

On the other hand, Tata Steel, Dr Redyy's Labs, Bharti Airtel, Hero MotoCorp and Reliance Industries are among the notable losers.

On the sectoral front, the BSE FMCG index is the top gainer, up nearly 1% at 5,830. Consumer durables, power, IT, bankex, PSU, realty and healthcare indices are also up 0.3-0.5% each.

The broader markets are also trading flat. The BSE mid-cap index is up 18 points at 6,679 and the small-cap index has advanced 30 points at 7,100.

The overall breadth is positive as 762 stocks are advancing while 419 are declining.