Markets trade flat, Bharti Airtel reports weak Q3 numbers

The Indian markets opened on a flat positive note today amid weak Q3 numbers reported by a major company like Bharti Airtel and due to pressure on other heavy stocks such as ICICI Bank, ONGC etc. The Sensex and the Nifty are up by 0.46% and 0.34% respectively.

The Asian markets opened on a positive note, helped by the progress seen over debt restructuring talks in Greece. However, investors also remained cautious in the earnings season that has so far not given any major boost to the market.

Previously, the US markets closed in the green zone over renewed optimism that the Greek debt restructuring efforts will see some positive outcome, which improved investors' sentiments.

Back home, all the sectoral indices barring Bankex and Pharma are trading with gains between 2.37%-1.73%. The Realty, Consumer Durables and IT Indices are leading with gains between 2.37%-1.54%.

Of the Sensex shares, Bharti Airtel is down by 5% over weak Dec 2011 quarter results reported by the company. Stocks that are trading with a positive bias are DLF, GAIL India, HDFC, HDFC Bank, Infosys, etc., all up between 2.65%-0.34%. In the losers pack, ICICI Bank, M&M, ONGC, Sun Pharma and Tata Steel are down between 1.52%-0.08%.

The market breadth, which indicates the overall health of the market, is positive. On the BSE, 1503 shares rose and 592 shares fell. 74 shares remained unchanged.

We expect the markets to remain flat and volatile for the day, and the European markets to provide some vital cues on the desired direction of the market trend in the late afternoon session.