Markets continued to trade on a flat note as investors remained on the sidelines ahead of India's current account data scheduled later today and amid looming concerns over US 'fiscal-cliff' that may lead to automatic tax hikes and spending cuts by January 1st pushing world's biggest economy into recession.
At 10:15AM, the Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex index fell 5 points at 19,449.59 while the National Stock Exchange's Nifty-50 index declined 1 point and traded at 5,907.20.
India's current account data for July-September due after market hours today is expected to show a record high deficit, leading to a negative balance of payments.
Global risk appetite was weak as the US government edged closer to the "fiscal cliff" with no solution in sight.
In Asia, the markets were trading mostly in the red with Shanghai Composite being the only exception which added 1% iafter robust PMI data. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was tad up 0.04% to 22,656 , Singapore's Straits Times was down 0.7% to 3,168. Japanese markets are shut today.
MSCI Asia-Pacific index outside Japan rose 0.1% to 899.63.
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On the domestic front, barring Banks, IT and FMCG sectors, all others were trading positive. Metals, real-esate, Oil & Gas, power, capital goods, autos, PSU led gains on BSE.
Among key Sensex stocks,ITC declined 0.85, TCS and Infosys dropped 0.5% and 0.2% respectively, DR Reddy's and Cipla declined 0.2% each while among banks, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank dropped 0.5% on BSE
The gainers include Hindalco, Sterlite and Jindal Steel, each rising over 1%, Wipro rose over 1%, among auto makers, Tata Motors was up 1%, Maruti Suzuki rose 0.4% and Hero MotoCorp gained 0.6% on BSE.
The other key notable movers include Wipro which is trading higher by 2% at Rs 398 in an otherwise subdued market in early morning trades after the company said that the shareholders have approved the company's demerger plan in a court convened meeting held in Bangalore on Friday.
Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering Company is trading higher by 2% at Rs 93 after the company said it has received an order worth of Rs 400 crore from the state-owned oil exploration and production company, ONGC to repair, maintain and dry docking of oil rig.
The broader markets outperformed benchmark indices with mid-caps and small-caps gaining 0.2-0.4% on BSE.
The market breadth is strong as 1,203 stocks gained compared to 705 declines on BSE.