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Markets started on a flat note even as the Infosys third quarter earnings beat Street expectation for the third consecutive quarter. India's second largest IT services exporter s' adjusted net profit rose 19.4%, quarter-on-quarter to Rs 2,875 crore in the quarter ended December 2013.
Further, investors would focus on the November index of industrial production data to be released later today.
In the opening trades, the Sensex was flat at 20,713 and the Nifty was up five points at 6,173.
In the broader markets, the midcap index was down 0.1% and the smallcap index was flat with a negative bias.
Meanwhile, Asian shares eased on Friday as investors adopted a cautious stance ahead of China's December trade data due for release later today. The Shanghai Composite eased 0.4%. Shares in Japan extended losses. The benchmark Nikkei was down 0.4%. However, Hang Seng was marginally up 0.2% while Straits Times was trading flat with a positive bias.
Further, stocks on Wall Street ended flat amid a volatile trading session on Thursday as investors adopted a wait-and-watch stance ahead of the non-farm payrolls data due for release later today. A better-than-expected data would provide the US Fed room to continue reducing its monetary stimulus measures. Last month, the US Fed had announced that it will start trimming its bond purchases by $10 billion to $75 billion.
The Dow Jones industrial average eased 0.1% lower to end at 16,445. The S&P 500 ended flat at 1,838. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.23%, to close at 4,156.
Back home, all the sectoral indices except, IT, Teck and Health Care indices were in the red.
The IT index was up 0.8% and the Health care index gained 0.4% in opening trades.
On the other hand, Metal index was down 1% along with Bankex, Auto, Realty, Capital goods and FMCG indices down 0.1- 0.8%.
The only gainers among the Sensex-30 were Infosys up 2%, Sun Pharma, Cipla and Reliance Industries up 0.2-0.9%.
Among the ones in the red, Sesa Sterlite down nearly 3% was the top loser.
ICICI Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra,Axis Bank, Coal India, Hindalco, Gail India, ONGC, Hero MotoCorp and Tata Steel down 1-2% were the other notable losers.
The market breadth was negative on the BSE. 646 stocks declined while 395 stocks advanced.
