Morning after sharp fall, equities market opens flat

Mumbai, March 4, Hardnews: After a sharp fall on Monday the Indian equities market opened flat today morning. Cues from other Asian markets were mixed. Consumer goods and realty stocks registered modest buying in initial trade here.

The 30-share benchmark sensitive index of Bombay Stock Exchange opened with a gain of 64.32 points at 16,742.20. Twenty minutes after the start of trading, the Sensex was at 16,700.93, a marginal gain of 23.05 points compared to its close Monday. A report by IANS

At the same time the S&P Nifty of National Stock Exchange was up a nominal one point at 4,954.10 points, compared to its close Monday.

The market breadth was extremely weak with low volumes. In the initial trade 593 scrips advanced, 744 declined and 34 remained unchanged.

Other Asian markets were trading mixed Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei was down 0.22 percent or 27.95 points at 12,964.23. Hong Knog's Hang Seng fell 0.21 percent to 23,534.52. However, Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted gained 1.78 percent to 8,410.18. Singapore's Straits Times was flat at 2,925.35. South Korea's Seoul Composite was also flat at 1,670.75.

Spice Telecom, Titan Industries and Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited were among the gainers at initial trade here. HMT Ltd, Rashtriya Chemical Fertilisers and Reliance Industrial Infrastructure Ltd were among the top laggards on the indices.