Markets open soft on global cues

Markets opened flat this morning. The Sensex opened at 17,694 . The index, thereafter, dropped to a low of 17,629 and is now down 53 points at 17,696.

The Nifty is down 11 points at 5,305.

US markets dropped on a weak housing data on Tuesday. The Dow dropped 148.96 points, or 1.4%, to 10,293. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 1.6% to 1,095. The Nasdaq lost 27 points, or 1% to 2,262.

Asian indices have mirrored the US peers. Hang Seng is quoting at 20,760, weaker by 58 points or 0.2% and Nikkei is at 9,942, lower by 170 points or 1.6%.

BSE capital goods index has dropped 0.7% to 14,590. Realty, FMCG and bankex are also in red. However, the healthcare index is marginally up at 5,686.

Larsen & Toubro has dropped 1.4% to Rs 1,795.

Realty stocks - DLF and Jaiprakash Associates have declined over 1% each at Rs 284 and Rs 129, respectively. ACC has slipped 1% to Rs 853.

ICICI Bank, ITC and Jindal Steel are trading weak this morning.

Meanwhile, Reliance Communications has gained marginally at Rs 187. ONGC and Tata Steel are up 0.5% each at Rs 1,204 and Rs 496, respectively.