Reversing early gains, the key benchmark indices were trading lower in the morning deals. The Sensex lost 95 points to trade at 16,771 and the Nifty was down 31 points at 4,971.
“Some consolidation in the markets ahead of the earnings would be good. The markets can head higher only on the back of good corporate results and this time the results are likely to show some topline growth also,” Neeraj Dewan, Director, said, Quantum Securities.
Telecom, realty and capital goods stocks were under pressure today. Among the Sensex stocks, Hindalco and ITC were up over 2.6 per cent each.
Bharti Airtel, however, extended losses for the second day and plunged 9 per cent in early trade. RCom was also down 6.4 per cent.
In US, the first growth in the service industry in a year and upbeat comments about big banks pulled investors into the stock market after two losing weeks.
Financial and energy stocks led the gains after Goldman Sachs raised its rating on large banks and the price of oil jumped.
The Dow rose 112.08, or 1.2 percent, to 9,599.75, its first gain in four days. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 15.25, or 1.5 percent, to 1,040.46, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 20.04, or 1 percent, to 2,068.15.
Asian markets were trading mixed today. Japan’s Nikkei shed 0.2 per cent and South Korea’s Kospi was down 0.6 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, however, rose 0.7 per cent.
