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Markets were trading flat as gains in Reliance Industries failed to offset losses in IT shares and FMCG major ITC.
At 9:30AM, the 30-share Sensex was up 132 points at 26,515 and the 50-share Nifty was up 34 points at 7,918.
The rate of retail inflation in September eased to 6.46 per cent — the lowest since the series was launched in January 2012 — driven mainly by a significant drop in food prices and subdued demand for industrial goods. The rate, as measured by the consumer price index (CPI), had stood at 7.73 per cent in August and 9.84 per cent in September last year.
Foreign investors were net sellers in equities to the tune of Rs 671 crore on Monday.
Asian stocks rebounded after the recent correction with the exception of Japanese shares which dropped to two-month lows on global growth concerns. The benchmark Nikkei was down nearly 1.5%. Hang Seng was trading nearly 1% higher while shares in mainland China were trading with marginal gains with the Shanghai COmposite up 0.3% while Straits Times was trading flat with positive bias.
US markets continued their losing streak on Monday with the S&P 500 closing below its 200-DMA for the first time since Nov 16, 2012. Investors continued to trim positions in riskier assets on worries that weak global demand may hurt earnings of US companies while the spread of Ebola also weighed on market sentiment. The Dow Jones ended down 223 points or 1.4% at 16,321, the S&P 500 closed 31 points or 1.7% at 1,875 and the Nasdaq slumped 63 points or 1.5% to end at 4,214.
The BSE Realty index wsa the top loser down 6% followed by BSE IT, Capital Goods and Auto indices.BSE Consumer Durables index was the top sectoral gainer up 1% followed by Bankex, Oil and Gas indices among others.
Reliance Industries was up after it beat analysts’ expectations during the July-September quarter, with its profit increasing 1.7 per cent over the year-ago period. At Rs 5,972 crore, however, its net profit was 1.7 per cent higher than Rs 5,873 crore in the same period last year.
DLF slumped 23% after SEBI barred the real estate major and six of its top executives, including Chairman K P Singh, from accessing the capital market for three years. The Sebi order, after finding the company guilty of “active and deliberate suppression” of material information at the time of its public issue, leaves DLF out in the cold even as others capitalise on the current bull run.
In the broader markets, the BSE Mid-cap index was up 0.2% and Small-cap index was up 0.3%.
Market breadth was positive with 789 advances and 492 declines on the BSE.
