Markets open flat, Nifty still above 10,500

New Delhi: The benchmark indices opened flat on Friday but the NSE Nifty still managed to hold on to 10,500 level in opening trade.

The 30-share barometer was trading lower by 37.85 points, or 0.11 percent, at 34,389.44 while the the NSE Nifty was down 7.65 points or 0.07 percent to 10,557.65.

Major losers were Kotak Bank, Yes Bank, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Auto, Sun Pharma, Powergrid, SBIN, HDFC, Axis Bank, ITC, Asian Paints and Tata steel losing up to 1.47 percent.

Rupee weakened by 25 paise to breach the 66-level and hit its 13-month low of 66.05 against the US dollar in the early trade today due to appreciation of the US currency overseas.

Asian shares slipped on Friday as a warning on smartphone demand from the world`s largest contract chipmaker slugged the tech sector, while high oil prices stirred inflation fears and undermined sovereign bonds.

Taiwan`s main index slid 1.4 percent with techs sinking 3.5 percent and TSMC off more than 5 percent.
Stocks in South Korea took a 0.3 percent dip, with the tech sector losing 1.6 percent.

MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan shed 0.8 percent, again led by a 0.7 percent fall in technology.

Japan`s Nikkei recouped early losses to rise 0.1 percent as gains in energy and financials outweighed the drop in tech.

With Agency Inputs