Markets open flat, Nifty dives below 11,600

New Delhi: Markets opened on a flat to negative note on Thursday with the Nifty diving below 11,600.

Investors are also holding their breath as polling of the first phase of Lok Sabha elections began in 91 constituencies across 18 states and two union territories today.

In early morning trade however both the equity indices pared its initial losses and turned green.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) yesterday revised down the global growth forecast fuelling fears of a global slowdown.

Top gainers in the Sensex pack Airtel, M&M, Asian Paint,  HUL, HDFC, Bajaj Auto, NTPC, LT, ITC, HDFC Bank, CIL and TCS, rising upto 1.66 percent.

Maruti, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Tata Motors, SBI, IndusInd Bank, Yes Bank, Infosys, Kotak Bank, Sun Pharma and Vedanta were trading in red, falling upto 2.02 percent.

Asian stocks stepped back from near eight-month highs. MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.3 percent. Chinese shares were subdued with the blue-chip CSI300 off 1 percent while Hong Kong`s Hang Seng index stumbled 0.6 percent. Japan`s Nikkei fell 0.3 percent, a Reuters report said.

With Agency Inputs