The markets witnessed subdued trades in the morning session with the BSE Sensex at 16,944, up 60 points and the Nifty, 5,094, up 16 points. The bourses are further expected to react to weak global cues and the monthly inflation data expected later in the day.
In other developments across the globe, ratings agency Standard & Poor's downgraded the long-term credit rating of Spain by one notch on Friday, knocking the euro down by a third of US cent as it followed hard on the heels of a similar downgrade by Fitch last week.
S&P cited Spain's high unemployment, tightening credit and high level of private-sector debt among the reasons for the downgrade of the nation's creditworthiness to AA- from AA.
In Asia, Japan's benchmark Nikkei average opened down 0.46 per cent at 8,782.91 on Friday, while the broader Topix shed 0.79 per cent to 752.81. Back home, technical analysts suggest that the support for the Nifty is at 5,030, while the 50-share index is likely to face resistance at 5,174 levels. At 830 am Indian Standard Time, the SGX Nifty was trading flat at 5,067, down a negligible 2 points.
Back home, top gainers on the Sensex are Reliance Industries, IT and Bharti Airtel, up almost 1%. Major losers are Hindalco, Tata Steel and Maruti Suzuki, down almost 1% each. The losers from the pack are DLF, Hindalco Industries, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Steel and Coal India, down 1-2% each.
On the sectoral front, Consumer Durable shares are leading the gains. Blue Star has rallied 5%, followed by Videocon Industries and Whirlpool, up 1% each. BSE Pwer, FMCG and Healthcare indices are also leading, having gained nearly 1% each.
Profit booking is seen in realty shares. Major losers are DLF, Unitech, Prestige Estates, Indiabulls Real Estate and HDIL, down 1-4% each.
The overall market breadth is positive as 1,097 stocks have advanced against 636 declining ones, on the BSE.
