IT shares gain in a flat market; Infosys up 1%

Benchmark indices are trading flat with a negative bias as the advance in IT shares is being offset by losses in auto shares which are down on weak Ocotber sales data.

At 9:17 AM, Sensex was down 19 points at 27,846 while Nifty was down 8 points at 8315.

On Friday, FIIs were net buyers to the tune of Rs 1,754.73 crore.

Global Markets

After reporting a near 5% surge on Friday, NIkkei is closed today on account of Culture Day (bunka no hi) in Japan which is celebrated for promotion of culture and the love of freedom and peace. However, Hang Seng has declined around 0.2% on unexpected dip in China's factory activity to a five-month low in October while Shanghai Composite is up around 0.2%.

Sectors and stocks

BSE Auto index has lost the most at around 1% followed by BSE Consumer Durables index while BSE IT index has gained around 1%. Most of the sectors are trading flat.

Auto shares are under pressure on account of the disappointing October sales numbers. M&M has lost the most at around 2% followed by Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki which have lost around 1.2% each.

IT stocks are the major gainers in early trading on positive economic data from US their major market. Infosys and TCS have gained around 1-1.2% each while Wipro has gained 0.5%.

Among financials, while Axis Bank, HDFC Bank and SBI have gained between 0.5-1% each ICICI Bank is own around 0.3%.

Bharti Airtel has rebounded from the slump it suffered last week and is trading with a gain of around 1%.

Shares to aviation companies – Jet Airways (India) and SpiceJet have rallied up to 7% in early morning deals after state oil marketing companies have cut jet fuel (ATF) prices by a steep 7.3% from Saturday.

This is the fourth straight reduction in prices since August on back of falling international oil rates. The move would help these companies improve profitability by reducing operating costs.

Bombay Stock Exchange - BSE

Tata Motors

TATA Consultancy Services ( TCS )

HDFC Bank