Indian shares opened flat with negative bias on Thursday as investors traded cautious ahead of the outcome of the Gujarat elections later today and amid looming uncertainty over US budget deal resolution.
The Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex index rose 35.41 points and opened at 19,511.41 while the National Stock Exchange's Nifty-50 index gained 4.85 points at 5,934.45.
On the global front, US stocks fell on Wednesday as Washington talks to avert a year-end fiscal crisis turned sour, but the market's modest loss shows that investors still expect a deal.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 99.22 points, or 0.74%, at 13,251.74. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 10.99 points, or 0.76%, at 1,435.80. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 10.17 points, or 0.33%, at 3,044.36.
Asian shares paused on Thursday after rallying to their highest in nearly 17 months the day before, as talks to avert a US fiscal crisis stalled - prompting worries of the world's largest economy sliding back into recession.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 0.4% to 22,537 while Japan's Nikkei 1.3% to 10,055. China's Shanghai Composite was down by 0.5% to 2,151.
The MSCI Asia Pacific index outside Japan declined 0.65% to 893.72.
Back home, BSE Healthcare and IT indices have surged by almost 1% followed by counters like TECk, Capital Goods and Auto, all gaining marginally. However, BSE Realty index has declined by nearly 1%.
The main losers on the Sensex at this hour include Sterlite, BHEL, RIL, Hindalco, Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel and ITC.
On the winning side, Cipla, Maruti Suzuki, Sun Pharma, GAIL, Hero Moto and Wipro have gained between 1-1.5%.
Among other shares, BGR Energy Systems has surged 6% to Rs 278 after the company said it bagged orders for supply of steam turbine and generators from state owned NTPC for the proposed 2X800 MW super thermal power project at Lara in Chattisgarh. The value of the order is Rs 1548 crore.
The market breadth in BSE remains marginally positive with 711 shares advancing and 626 shares declining.
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