Benchmark indices are trading marginally lower after losing initial momentum as the absence of any significant directional cues has limited fresh buying by investors. Losses in FMCG, auto and oil & gas shares are weighing the most on the indices.

At 11:50AM, the 30-share Sensex was down 41 points at 27,167 and the 50-share Nifty was flat at the mark 8,171.

ITC is gearing up for a foray into the branded dairy and fruit juice sectors over the next few months. To start with, the company is setting up its first dairy plant in Munger district in Bihar to manufacture value-added milk products.

“The company is developing a back-end structure to ensure an increase in milk yields and milk-processing capacity for our dairy business,” said Chitranjan Dar, CEO of ITC Foods. With this move, ITC will directly compete with established players like Amul, Nestle and Mother Dairy.

India's equity mutual fund managers have kept their top-10 picks almost intact through 2014, barring three stocks. Despite being giants in their respective sectors, the three failed to make it to the most-invested stocks this year, said Value Research.

The three are telecom giant Bharti Airtel, fast-moving consumer goods major ITC and Housing Development Finance Corporation.

Benchmark share indices extended losses tracking weak global markets as crude prices continue to fall further. Further, selling by foreign funds in the previous sessions continue to weigh on investor sentiment.

By 9:40AM, the Sensex was lower by 254 points at 27,065 mark and the Nifty slipped by 75 points at 8,148 levels.

Markets opened marginally higher tracking gains in their Asian peers and overnight gains on Wall Street with IT majors leading the gains.

Meanwhile, markets are likely to remain volatile ahead of the release of consumer price inflation and industrial production data due later today.

Markets are likely to open lower tracking losses in their Asian peers and sharp overnight decline on Wall Street.

At 8:20AM, the early indicator SGX Nifty was down 30 points at 8,452.

Markets are also likely to react to the current account data (CAD) which at 2.1% of the GDP for the July-September quarter is higher compared to same quarter last fiscal when the figure was 1.2%.

ITC, a fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) major, has become the second-most valuable Indian company, surpasses refineries giants- Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Reliance Industries - in overall market capitalization (m-cap) ranking.

ITC with a m-cap of Rs 3,15,797 crore at 1014 hours, was climbed to number two position ahead of ONGC and Reliance Industries having m-cap of Rs 3,14,842 crore and Rs 3,09,596 crore respectively. Information technology giant Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is at number one position with Rs 495,479 crore m-cap.

Markets surged in opening trades to hit record highs with the Sensex topping the 28,800 mark but retreated later as traders turned cautious and booked profits at higher levels.

By 9:30, the Sensex was higher by 175 points at 28,618 whereas the Nifty gained by 88 points at 8,625. Sensex and Nifty have hit the fresh record high of 28,809 and 8,627, respectively.

Markets opened flat but slipped into negative territory weighed down by profit taking in IT majors and index heavyweight ITC.

At 9:35AM, the 30-share Sensex was down 52 points at 28,392 and the 50-share Nifty was down 13 points at 8,512.

Markets have opened marginally higher with IT and select bank shares leading the gains in early trades. Some volatility is expected later in the session ahead of the RBI policy meet tomorrow.

At 9:35AM, the 30-share Sensex was up 64 points at 28,758 and the 50-share Nifty was up 20 points at 8,609.

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