Listless trades continue

Realty, oil & gas, auto advance

Markets have slipped with the Sensex trading down 40 points at 18,591. Nifty is down 12 points at 5,640.
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(Updated at 0931 hrs)

Markets have opened on a flat note this morning, following cues from global markets after Spain's rating cut. The Sensex is up 23 points at 18,654. Nifty is up 10 points at 5,662.

US stocks edged lower on Wednesday amid growing fears over slowing global growth and ahead of what many expect will be a weak earnings season. Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.81% at 13473. Nasdaq Composite was down 1.52%.

In Asia, Nikkei slipped as Standard & Poor's Corp cut its rating on Spain's long-term government bonds by two notches to BBB-, just one notch above junk status. The downgrade pushed the yen higher. Nikkei shed 39 points while Hang Seng tumbled over 100 points in trades.

According to provisional data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 407.60 crore on Wednesday.

BSE realty index is holding on to gains and is up 0.7% at 1,816. Oil & gas and FMCG indices are up marginally. However, BSE capital goods index has slipped 0.5% at 10,945. Power, auto and IT shares are also weak.

BHEL has slipped 1.4% to Rs 242, extending yesterday's fall, after a fire broke out in BHEL Bhopal plant.

Sterlite and SBI have shed 1% each. Auto stocks are down on disappointing monthly sales figures. Mahindra & Mahindra,  Bajaj Auto and Maruti Suzuki have dropped half a per cent each.

Infosys is down 0.6% at Rs 2,487 ahead of its results on Friday. HDFC Bank, which also comes out with results tomorrow, is up half a per cent at Rs 621.

Bharti Airtel and ONGC have gained 1% each, followed by Tata Steel, Reliance and Wipro.

Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs downgraded DLF to 'neutral' from 'buy', saying slower approvals could result in fewer project launches, while cutting its pre-sale estimates for India's largest property developer. However, shares of DLF are up 1.3% at Rs 216.

BSE market breadth is neutral. Out of 1,444 shares traded, 696 shares have advanced while 692 shares have declined.