Auto, Realty Drag Nifty Down

The Indian market opened flat with a negative bias today. The Nifty opened at 6046, touched a high of 6065.30 and a low of 6033.85, and is currently trading down by 13 points at 6040. The Sensex opened at 20,017.20, saw a high of 20,072 and a low of 19,963.98, and is now down by 22 points at 20,002.50.

The advance-decline ratio is negative in the morning trading session. On the NSE, 955 shares have declined and 278 shares have advanced.

Top 5 NSE Gainers: ONGC is the top gainer on the NSE, trading up by 3.48%, followed by Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Hindustan Unilever and ITC.

Top 5 NSE Losers: Tata Motors is among the top losers so far, down 7.25%. Others in the list include GAIL, Jaiprakash Associates, Mahindra & Mahindra and Sesa Goa.

6 out of the 13 sectoral indices are trading firm as of now. IT and FMCG are the top gainers, trading up in the range of 0.57%-1.01%. Auto and Realty are at the bottom of the list, lower by 2.5%-2.96%.

In the other Asian markets, Nikkei 225 and Straits Times are trading up between 0.44%-0.95%. KOSPI, Taiwan Weighted, Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite are trading lower in the range of 0.07%-0.57%.

Buzzers: Tata Motors has slumped nearly 7% to Rs 290. The stock slipped down after the automaker said that its Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) unit was likely to report lower EBTIDA margins in the Oct-Dec 2012 quarter.

HDIL has tanked 16% to Rs 80, extending its over 20% fall in the past two trading sessions after the company’s promoter along with foreign investors sold equity shares worth of Rs 92 crore via open market transactions.

The Nifty has a near-term support at 5990.