Markets open flat on muted Asian trends

New Delhi: Markets opened flat on Thursday on a muted trend in Asian markets. Investors also turned cautious ahead of quarterly results of key bluechip companies.

The BSE Sensex which had closed at 36, 212.91 on Wednesday opened higher at 36,258. But minutes into trading, it was quoting at 36,172.53, down by 40.38 points, or 0.11 percent. The NSE Nifty, which had closed at 10,855.15 was quoting at 10,839.65 points, down by 15.50 points or 0.14 percent.

Top losers include IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, HCL Tech, Kotak Bank, HDFC, Bharti Airtel, PowerGrid, Asian Paints, TCS and SBI, falling up to 1.30 percent.

While top gainers include Tata Motors, Yes Bank, NTPC, ONGC, Tata Steel and Infosys, rising up to 0.96 percent.

The rupee Thursday appreciated 14 paise to 70.32 against the US dollar in early trade amid weakness in the American currency on uncertainty over Federal Reserve rate hikes following the release of Fed meet minutes.

Asian shares began cautiously on Thursday, struggling to rise after a multi-day rally as markets await more news on U.S.-China trade talks that have raised hopes of a deal to avert an all-out trade war, a Reuters report said.

MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was a tad lower, trading not far off a near four-week high.

Australian shares were down 0.2 percent, while Japan`s Nikkei eased 1.2 percent. Wall Street`s S&P 500 rose 0.41 percent on Wednesday, extending its gains from 20-month lows touched around Christmas to more than 10 percent.

With Agency Inputs