Nifty slips into the red, down six points at 5,480 and the Sensex is flat at 18,205 in the second hour of trading. Consumer Durables, Realty and Oil & Gas down 0.2-0.4% are the major losers.
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(Updated at 0940 hrs)
The markets started the day in the negative tracking weak global cues but soon changed course due to the positive developments on the Lokpal front and the SEBI takeover codes which was cheered by the markets. At the start, the Nifty had slipped below 5,460 but clawed back to pass the 5,500 levels in the morning trades. Currently the BSE benchmark index is up 56 points at 18,272 after opening down 22 points at 18,187.
In the broader markets, the midcap and the smallcap indices are up 0.6% and 0.7% respectively, outperforming the Sensex which is up 0.4%.
Overnight in the US markets, the indices closed in the red as the lawmakers continue to remain at loggerheads over the nation's debt crisis. Owing to this standoff, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 0.5% at 12,240, its fifth straight session of losses.
Taking cues from these developments, the Asian markets started the day in the red. The Japanese shares declined after some weak corporate results with the Nikkei Stock Average down 0.1%. Hong Kong shares started on a choppy note weighed down by the financial sector. The Hang Seng Index lost 0.9%.
The other significant losers among the Asian indices were Taiwan Weighted down, 1% followed by Shanghai Composite, KLSE Composite, Straits Times and Seoul Composite losing in the range of 0.4-0.5%.
Back home, among the sectoral indices, FMCG index up 1% followed by Realty and Oil & Gas indices gaining 0.6% each are leading the opening gains. On the other hand, metal index down 0.2% is the only index in the negative.
The movers in the FMCG space are ITC, Godrej Constructions and United Spirits up 1% each. Welcorp, Jindal Steel and Hindustan Zinc losing 2-4% are the draggers in the metal space.
The top Sensex gainers are Maruti Suzuki, Reliance Communications, ICICI Bank and Wipro gaining 1-2%
The losers are Jindal Steel down nearly 2.5% followed by ONGC, Hero Honda and Jaiprakash Associates down between 0.7-1%
The market breadth is very positive. Of the total 1849 stocks traded on the BSE, 1250 stocks have advanced while 529 declined.
