Markets witness minor correction

M&M top Sensex gainer, stock up nearly 2%

Markets have trimmed gains in the morning deals on the back of a mild selling pressure visible in the IT and banking stocks. The Sensex is up 60 points at 18,685 and the Nifty has gained 16 points at 5,681.

Mahindra & Mahindra is the top gainer among the Sensex stocks. The stock is up nearly2% at Rs 896. Jindal Steel, Hindalco, Hero MotoCorp, Wipro, Tata Power and Dr Reddy's Labs are also up 1-1.6% each.

Shares of Vijay Mallya promoted UB Group companies are under pressure in opening trades after the liquor baron said that he is not sure of United Spirits-Diageo deal

“Liquor baron Vijay Mallya does not know whether a deal for UK drinks giant Diageo Plc to take a stake in his United Spirits Ltd will be struck or not, he said on Saturday," the Reuters report suggests.

Gujarat Flurochemicals has dipped almost 8% at Rs 328 in opening trades after reporting a net profit of Rs 110 crore in September 2012 quarter against Rs 188 crore in the corresponding quarter of previous year.

Nilkamal Limited has tanked 8% to  Rs 244 on reporting 37% year-on-year (yoy) drop in its standalone net profit at Rs 9.69 crore in September 2012 quarter (Q2) due to lower sales and higher raw material cost.
---------------------------------------------
(Updated at 9.20 AM)

Markets have opened higher in trades today on the back of buying visible in the rate sensitives and index heavyweight Reliance Industries. The Sensex has opened higher by 76 points at 18,701 and the 50-share Nifty is up 21 points at 5,685.

Meanwhile, the Asian markets were trading on a flat note meanwhile investors took comfort in signs of stable growth in the United States, though caution over the uncertain global corporate earnings outlook capped prices.

Shanghai Composite was trading marginally lower, down 2 points at 2,064 and Hang Seng slipped 62 points to 21,483. While, Nikkei advanced 21 points 8,954, Seoul Composite aded 7 points to 1,898 and the Taiwan Weighted was up 11 points at 7,145.

Benchmark US share indices ended nearly unchanged on Friday, shrugging off better-than-expected third quarter GDP data, as disappointing revenue and earnings growth from large US corporates and the Presidential election overhang continued to weigh on market sentiment.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 3.5 points at 13,107. S&P 500 ended down 1 point at 1,412 and Nasdaq Composite ended up 2 points at 2,988.

Back home, the rate sensitive stocks are in focus today ahead of the credit policy review which is due tomorrow. The banking, auto, capital goods and realty stocks are witnessing buying in the opening deals. The street is expecting a CRR cut this time around.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries is the top gainer among the Sensex stocks. It has opened higher by 1.2% at Rs 808. Wipro has advanced 1.12% at Rs 340. Tata Power, ITC, Hero MotoCorp, Dr Reddy's Labs, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Steel, Tata Motors and BHEL have also opened higher by 0.7-1% each.

On the other hand, Sterlite Industries, HUL, Infosys, HDFC Bank, Jindal Steel and Sun Pharma are among the notable losers.

BSE oil & gas index is the top gainer, up 0.7% at 8,456. Auto, FMCG, metal, healthcare, bankex and power indices are also up 0.2-0.6% each.

The broader markets are in-line with the benchmark indices. The BSE mid-cap index is up 10 points at 6,613 and the small-cap index is up 35 points at 7,122.

The overall breadth is positive as 864 stocks are advancing while 478 are declining.