Markets trade subdued, Asian ends mixed

Markets continue to remain subdued on account of flat global cues. The Sensex has risen 58 points  to 19,751 and the Nifty has gained 17 points at 5952.

After the knee-jerk reaction to the Korean military barrage, yesterday, analysts say cues from China and Europe will determine the direction of the market."Tuesday’s weakness was extrapolated  because of geopolitical events in Korea. While this is an aberration, investors globally are worried about China and Europe. I feel that data points from China and Europe will decide the course of the
 market going forward," Vaibhav Sanghavi, Director– Equities, Ambit Capital, said.

Asian markets ended as investors viewed that concern of military skirmish in Korea would wane off, South Korea's Seoul Composite was off 0.2%. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average ended down 0.8%; Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted dropped 0.4%. Other Asian markets ended in the green, Shanghai Composite Index was up 1.1%; Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.3%.

In India Auto stocks were in the top gear. Mahindra & Mahindra, up 4%, Tata Motors, up 2.8% and Maruti Suzuki, up 0.4% were top gainers.

Capital goods index was laggard in trade, the index shed 0.5%; Larsen & Tourbo, down 1.5%,  BHEL, down 0.6% were top losers.

Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors, Dr Reddy, up 2.2% were the top gainers on Nifty. Steel Authority of India, down 1.6%, Larsen & Tourbo and Jindal Steel, down 1.5% each were the top losers on Nifty,

Broader markets were trading also trading firm, midcap index rose 0.5% and smallcap index gained 1%.