Sensex trading flat; Oil & gas, realty slip

Compared to the Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex continued to trade flat late in the morning session today due to profit booking by funds and retail investors after two consecutive sessions of rally in the middle of a weak trend in the global market.

At 11:01, the BSE 30-share Sensex index fell 15.25 points or 0.09 percent at 16468.2 and Nifty 50-share NSE index fell 1.05 points, or 0.02 percent at 4,937.90.

The volume toppers were at the ITC, L & T, SBI, ICICI Bank and Tata Steel. Major Sensex losers were RIL, ONGC, ITC, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Auto, L & T and Hero Motocorp. HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Infosys were the major gainers.

Among the sectoral indices Bankex rose 0.87 percent, 0.53 percent of IT, teck 0.33 per cent and 0.23 per cent of the car. Oil & Gas fell 0.96 percent, 0.56 percent Realty, Capital Goods and Metal 0.41 percent 0.14 percent. The total 2257 stocks traded, 1214 advanced, 938 declined and 105 remained unchanged.

Among the Sensex stocks, Tata Motors (up 1.78 percent), Maruti (1.62 per cent) and ICICI Bank (up 1.11 per cent) were the top three gainers. RIL (down 1.4 per cent), Bajaj Auto (down 1.23 per cent) and Bharti Airtel (down 1.02 per cent) were the laggards among the top three.

BSE Sensex opened 10.53 points from its previous close 16493.48 and NSE Nifty opened four points at 4,940.85.

All of the market indices, except for the Swiss Market Index, less than one percent to close Thursday. The Swiss Market Index rose 0.5 percent.

U.S. markets are closed, and followed the red in less than one percent, except for the Nasdaq Composite Index, which rose marginally to 0.2 per cent.

"The U.S. blue-chip stocks fell on Thursday as investors group to the next highest one-day advance since March 2009 and expected to have significant employment report. Asian stock markets were mixed today, the day after the concentration of the news that six of the world's central banks slashed borrowing costs banks to shore up the financial system and prevent its worsening debt crisis, "SMC Global Securities, said the report.

Nymex crude oil fell 0.11 cent $ 100.09 a barrel, while gold rose 0.4 percent to $ 1,746.70 Yeper ounce.

yesterday Nifty rose 2.17 percent and closed 4,936.85 (up to 104 points), while the Sensex rose 2.23 percent and closed at 16,483.45 (up to 360 points).