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Markets trimmed early gains and were trading flat as weak Asian cues weighed on market sentiment.
At 9:34AM, the 30-share Sensex was up 14 points at 19,818 after hitting an intra-day high of 19,907 and the 50-share Nifty was up 12 points at 5,920.
Investors are likely to avoid long positions ahead of central bank's monetary policy next Tuesday amid lingering fear of hike in cash reserve ratio to curb liquidity and support staggering rupee.
According to technical charts,"The Nifty is likely to witness downward pressure. However, the index has near support at 5,885, and lower down around the 200-DMA at 5,850. In case, the index seeks support around these levels we could witness a bounce back to 6,000-odd levels in the next couple of trading sessions." Today, the Nifty may seek support around 5,870-5,850, while face resistance around 5,940-5,965.
Overnight, US stocks ended mixed as disappointing earnings in the cyclical sector limited the gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 13.37 points, or 0.09 percent, to end at 15,555.61. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 4.31 points, or 0.26 percent, to 1,690.25. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 25.59 points, or 0.71 percent, to close at 3,605.19.
Japan's Nikkei share average fell to a two-week low on Friday morning, as selling accelerated on the back of a firmer yen and disappointing quarterly earnings from the likes of Canon Inc and Advantest Corp. The Nikkei was down 2.5% and the Shanghai Composite lost 0.8%. However, the Hang Seng was trading flat while Straits Times was up 0.2%.
All sectoral indices except FMCG was in the green in early trades. The BSE Oil and Gas index was the top gainer among the sectoral indices up 1% followed by Capital Goods, Realty, Power, Metal and Healthcare among others.
Among Sensex stocks, Reliance Industries was up 0.9% and ONGC gained 1.4%.
Capital Goods shares firmed up on short covering at lower levels after the recent correction. L&T was up 1.2% and BHEL gained 1%.
Financial shares which took a beating post fresh liquidity measures by the central bank early this week also recovered today. ICICI Bank, SBI, HDFC were up 0.5-1.0% each.
FMCG majors ITC and Hindustan Unilever which had gained over 20% in the past one month witnessed profit taking. HUL was down 4% and ITC eased 1.6%.
In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap index was up 0.5% and the Small-cap index was up 0.3%.
Market breadth was positive with 597 gainers and 290 losers in early trades.
