Sensex opens on a flat note, Satyam slumps

01/10/2010 00:00 AST

The Indian market is virtually flat in early morning trade after a choppy start, as investors remained cautious following this month's stupendous advance and due to nagging concerns about the global economic landscape. Shares of Mahindra Satyam are down after the Company came out with results after a long gap.

At 9:08 a.m. (IST), the BSE Sensex was at 19,983, up 26 points from the last close. It earlier touched a day's high of 19,983 and a day's low of 19,917. It opened at 19,931. The NSE Nifty was up 6 points at 5,997 after touching a day's high of 6,000 and a day's low of 5,985. It opened at 5,991.

In terms of sectors, the BSE Auto index is the best performer as of now followed by Metals. Select Power, Pharma, PSU, Consumer Durables and Banking shares are up. IT, Real Estate and Capital Goods indices are nearly unchanged while Oil & Gas and FMCG indices are in red.

The BSE Small-Cap index and the BSE Mid-Cap index are up marginally.

Within the Sensex and the Nifty, the top gainers are Wipro, M&M, Hindalco, Tata Steel, NTPC, DLF, Cipla, HDFC, Hero Honda, ACC, ABB and NTPC. The biggest laggards in the main indices are Idea, Suzlon, BPCL and Tata Motors.

Market breadth on BSE is positive with 787 shares rising and 475 shares falling.

Shares of Mahindra Satyam were down more than 5% after the Company announced a major loss in FY09 and the management said that it will take about two years to get things back on track. Several brokerages have recommended a "sell" on the stock and have curtailed their price target.

Also, the Satyam ADR tumbled 10% in New York and was also down in the extended trading.

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