Markets lose sheen after opening modestly higher

Mumbai, Aug 14 (UNI) The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex today opened higher by 49.50 points at 15066.71 from it's previous close of 15017.21, but edged lower below the psychological barrier of 15,000 at 14985.98 in afternoon trade, tracking subdued opening of European shares.

''However, market breadth held firm and select side counters surged. Cement and auto shares were subdued. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries nudged lower. Key sectoral indices like BSE Capital Goods, BSE IT, BSE Bankex and BSE Oil&Gas and BSE Healthcare were flat,'' market players said.

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty had also opened marginally higher by just 0.25 points at 4373.90 from it's previous close of 4373.65.

Key benchmark indices in London, Germany and France were down by 0.6 per cent to 0.8 per cent.

By noon, The BSE Small-Cap index was up 14.88 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 8043.16. The BSE Mid-cap index was down 4.45 points, or 0.07 per cent, to 6570.72.

The market breadth is still strong here as 1,569 shares rose as compared to 1,058 shares that declined, while 69 shares were unchanged. Gainers outpaced losers by a ratio of 1.48:1. BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 2,514 crore so far.

Asian markets moved between positive and negative zone today.

They were now mixed. Key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore were up between 0.1 per cent to 0.2 per cent. Key benchmark indices in South Korea and Taiwan were down between 0.3 per cent to 1.7 per cent.

Till now, the gainers included NTPC and HCL Technologies, while the losers are ACC, Grasim, Reliance Industries (RIL), Maruti Udyog, Tata Motors and State Bank of India (SBI).

UNI