After a weak opening in early trades, markets have recovered slightly and are trading on a flat note with a positive bias in late morning trades. The BSE Sensex is at 17,213, up 40 points and the Nifty is at 5,239, up 16 points.
Earlier in the day, the BSE benchmark index touched the day's high at 17,217 and the day's low at 17,051.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei share average fell as much as 1.3% to hit a two-week low on fresh concerns over a slowing global economy after Brazil reported weak growth and on fears that Greece may not meet its deadline for debt restructuring. The index currently is at 9,564, down 0.76%. Tha Hang Seng index has shed nearly 1% while the Shanghai Composite index is marginally down by 0.18%.
Back home, on the sectoral front, BSE Oil & Gas and Metal indices are leading the losses, down nearly 1% each.
The notable losers from the Oil & Gas space include BPCL, Hindustan Petroleum, Indian Oil Corporation and Reliance Industries, down 1-2% each.
Hindustan Zinc, Jindal Steel & Power and NMDC, down 2-3% each, are the major losers from among the Metal stocks.
BSE IT, Consumer Durables, Healthcare and Bankex indices are trading marginally higher.
Wipro, Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp, ICICI Bank an HDFC, up 1-2% each, are the prominent gainers on the Sensex. The losers from the pack are Jindal Steel, Sterlite Industries, Mahindra & Mahindra, TCS and Reliance Industries, down 1-2% each.
Among individual stocks, Hexaware Technologies has rallied 4.4% at Rs 112 on reports that the Larsen and Tourbro’s (L&T) information technology arm, L&T Infotech, exploring options of buying out the company.
Apollo Hospitals Enterprises has gained 3% at Rs 579, on reports that the Indian healthcare major is planning to set up a second hospital in Bangladesh, at the port city of Chittagong, through a local partner.
Pantaloon Retail (India) is trading lower by 4% at Rs 154.4, extending its previous day’s 7% fall, on concerns that the Samajwadi Party win in the state of Uttar Pradesh assembly elections may hit a roadblock for foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail.
The overall market breadth is negative as 1,278 stocks have declined against 1,030 advancing ones, on the BSE.
