Markets open in the red

Taking cues from its global peers, the Indian bourses opened on a flat note.

The Sensex opened at 20,917 - down 15 points. The index touched a low of 20,886 and is now down 21 points at 20,911.

The Nifty is down 12 points at 6,289.

"The trend deciding level for the day is 20,893/6,285 levels. If Nifty trades above this level during the first half-an-hour of trade then we may witness a further rally up to 21,023–21,114/6,327-6,353 levels. However, if Nifty trades below 20,893/6,285 levels for the first half-an-hour of trade then it may correct up to 20,802–20,672/6,260-6,218 levels", says Angel Broking.

Among the sectoral indices auto stocks are in green. However, capital goods, IT and metal indices have dropped in trades.

The US markets on Tuesday slipped with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) skidding 60 points to 11,421. Nasdaq and S&P 500 also ended weak. Investors were still adjusting to the US Fedreal Reserve's decision on QE2, last week.

Asian markets too are trading weak this morning. Hang Seng has dropped 97 points while the Shanghai Composite has slipped 16 points in trade. However, Nikkei is up 1% at 9,807. Japanese government bonds slipped as the Yen fell against the $, helping the Japanese markets touch a four-month high.

The SGX Nifty is trading with a negative bias. The index is down 41 points at 6,304.

Back home on Tuesday, the Sensex ended a volatile session of trade with gains. FMCG and realty stocks led the recovery.

"The undercurrent of the market is strong and the market is in uptrend. The market is likely to get support around 6000 in the event of correction", says Avinash Gupta, Vice President Research Equity, Bonanza Portfolio.

Some frontliner stocks are set to announce their quarterly numbers today. DLF in the realty space would be looked at. BPCL, Britannia, Great Offshore and PFC are among the others. DLF is trading flat at Rs 362.

"At the current market price, the stock is trading at 9% premium to our 1 yr forward NAV of Rs 332. We continue to recommend Neutral on the stock", says Angel Broking.

Bharti Airtel has just come out with its numbers, The net profit is at Rs 1,661 cr as against Rs 1,681.6 cr in the same period last fiscal. The stock has slipped 0.5% toRs 332.

Sail, Tata Motors, Dr Reddy's are among the early gainers this morning. Some of the other auto names - Bajaj Auto and Mahindra & Mahindra are up. Tata Motors has surged 6% to Rs 1,345.

Hindalco has dropped 2.5% to Rs 226 following its quarterly numbers announcement. The company reported a 26% jump in Q2 net to Rs 433.81 crore, owing to a sharp increase in sales. Cement stocks- Ambuja Cements and ACC are in red.

Tata Steel is up 0.8% at Rs 645. ONGC and Wipro are up marginally as well.

Cipla has dropped 1.7% to Rs 344. ICICI Bank, Sterlite, ACC and Larsen & toubro are in the red this morning.