Markets choppy; Defensive stocks lose sheen

After opening in red, markets have turned flat in the morning trades as gains in oil and metal shares cap losses in the defensive stocks.

At 10.40 AM, the 30-share Sensex is down 3 points at 26,465 and the 50-share Nifty has gained 1 point at 7,913.

On Thursday, Nifty September F&O series ended lower after seven consecutive positive series. The F&O turnover stood at Rs 5.3 lakh crore.

Meanwhile, foreign investors sold shares worth 8.51 billion rupees on Thursday.

In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap index is down 0.2% while the Small-cap index has gained 0.4%.

Market breadth is marginally positive with 1,112 gainers and1,072 losers on the BSE.

Global Markets:

Asian shares got off to a rocky start on Friday after a sharp drop on Wall Street curbed enthusiasm for the dollar even after it touched multi-year highs in the previous session.

US stocks ended sharply lower, as Apple Inc broke under key technical levels after the tech giant withdrew an update to its new operating system. That pushed the S&P 500 to its biggest one-day decline since July.

Japan's Nikkei stock average skidded 1.6%, on track to shed more than 1% for the week, as a stronger yen exacerbated the risk-averse mood.

Sectors & Stocks:

On the sectoral front, BSE Consumer Durables is the top losing index down over 1% followed by IT and FMCG indices trading lower between 0.5-1%. However, BSE Realty index is the top gainer up nearly 1.5% followed by Capital Goods, Oil & Gas, Metal indices trading 1% higher. Healthcare and Auto indices have gained nearly 0.5%. Bankex is up nearly 0.5%.

Reliance Industries and ONGC which ended down over 3.3% each yesterday after the government deferred its decision on gas pricing till November 15 have rebounded in the morning trades and have gained between 1-2%.

In the financial segment, Axis Bank, SBI and HDFC Bank are up between 0.5-15 on fresh buying. However, ICICI Bank has extended its yesterday’s losses and is down 0.3% on concerns over the private banking major's exposure to Jaiprakash Group. HDFC has lost 1.6%.

In the metal pack, Hindalco and Tata Steel which ended down 2.5-4% each yesterday on SC verdict on coal block have bounced back today on fresh buying and are trading higher by 3.5% and 2% each.

Coal India which surged post the SC verdict on coal block de allocation has dipped nearly 1% on profit booking.

However, select defensive shares which ended firm yesterday are trading lower today on profit taking. Infosys, TCS, ITC, HUL, Dr Reddy’s Lab and Cipla have lost between 0.2-1%. However IT major Wipro and drug maker Sun Pharma have gained between 0.6-2% on renewed buying.

Hero Motocorp, Sesa Sterlite and Bharti Airtel are some of the prominent names in red among others and are down between 0.2-1%.

However, L&T, M&M, Bajaj Auto and NTPC are some of the notable names in green and have gained between 1-2%.