The markets have started the day on a muted note in line with the cues from the global front and the subdued nature of the previous day's proceedings. The Sensex is at 18,299, lower by one point and the Nifty is virtually unchanged at 5482 in early trades.
Wall Street rose marginally on Wednesday on stronger-than-expected Dell earnings and a flurry of deal news, but concern about tensions between Israel and Iran gave investors reason to pause. The Dow gained 36 points and Nasdaq rose 12 points. On the Asian front, the Hang Seng was up 13 points and Nikkei was up 41 points in early trades, but the Seoul Composite had weakened by 15 points, Straits Times was down nine points and Taiwan Weighted was down 11 points. And there was no sense of direction from the Indian ADRs either; Infosys ended higher by 0.5% and Wipro ended up 0.3%, but ICICI Bank weakened by $0.6. And the SGX Nifty was trading lower by 13 points at 5481 in pre-market trading.
The markets had ended Wednesday's session on a subdued note as investors turned to the sidelines after three consecutive days of gains which pushed the markets up 4.6% and the Eid holiday also added to the lacklustre mood; the Sensex had closed at 18,306, up 32 points, and the Nifty had ended at 5482, up one point.
Tata Steel is seeing follow-up buying after the stellar gains of the previous session on the back of strong Q3 results. The metal major had added another 0.8% at Rs 646 to emerge as the leading gainer on the BSE. Infosys has strengthened by 0.7% at Rs 3124 and Hero Honda has added 0.6% at Rs 1504. HDFC Bank, HDFC and TCS are the other significant gainers on the BSE.
On the other hand, Jaiprakash Associates is witnessing profit-booking after racing ahead by more than 6% in the previous session. The stock has slipped by 1.6% at Rs 88 to emerge as the top loser on the BSE. RCom has weakened by 1.2% at Rs 98 possibly on the news that Anil Ambani met the CBI officials in the later half on Wednesday in connection with the ongoing investigations in the 2G scam. ONGC, ICICI Bank and Tata Motors are the other major losers.
The market breadth is positive. Out of 1326 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 736 advancing stocks as against 535 declines.
