Sensex opens marginally up, moves into red

Mumbai, Dec 17: The benchmark Sensex at Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) opened with a marginal gain and slipped into red below the psychological level of 20K following the weak note in global markets.

Sensex opened at 20,032.67 from its previous close of 20,030.83 and shed 114 points to touch at 19,916.83 soon after early trade, on the week cues globally. While, National Stock Exchange's (NSE's) Nifty opened 9.85 points low at 6,037.95 from its previous close of 6,047.70, soon after, it fell below to the 6,000 level to touch a low of 5,958.20, 1.46 per cent down in the early trade.

Markets have turned into negative zone following weak cues from the US and the Asian markets. Frontline stocks like ONGC, HDFC bank, Reliance Industries and L&T were among the major losers, traders said.

US markets ended in red on Friday, after a tough week, on reports showing higher inflation raised worries. Asian markets were down this morning, with the Hang Seng in Hong Kong leading the sell-off across the region. Market breadth was strong. On BSE, 1,811 stocks advanced, 806 stocks declined and 45 stocks remained unchanged. Twenty six out of 30 stocks from the Sensex pack declined.

BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.18 pc to 9,488.73. It hit all time high of 9,541.03 today. BSE Small-Cap index rose 1.29pc to 12,353.42. It hit an all time high of 12,402.86 today.

Reliance Industries declined 0.87pc to Rs 2,864. Capital goods stocks declined. Larsen&Toubro (L&T) was down 0.7pc to Rs 4,144.85, Bharat Heavy Electricals was down by 1.34 pc to Rs 2,527pc and Suzlon Energy fell 3.25pc to Rs 1,895 edged lower.

UNI