Indices open flat, Nifty around 11,150

Thursday,   16-May-2019   09:47 AM (IST)

Markets opened flat with a positive bias on Thursday, lifted by gains in Infosys and Reliance Industries. At 9:25 AM, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading 16 points higher around 37,131 levels, with Tata Motors, Vedanta, Powergrid, Bajaj Finance, and Infosys the top gainers. The broader Nifty50 index was trading absokutely flat at 11,157.5 level. Among sectoral indices, only four out of the 11 components were trading in the green, with Nifty Pharma, down 1.1 per cent, being the top loser. In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index rose 22 points, or 0.16 per cent, at 14,140, while the S&P BSE SmallCap index had slipped 25 points, or 0.18 per cent, at 13,757. Oil prices edged up on the prospect of mounting tensions in the Middle East hitting global supplies. Brent crude rose 0.7 per cent to $72.25 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fetched $62.45 a barrel, up 0.7 per cent. Asian shares steadied on Thursday on news that US President Donald Trump is planning to delay tariffs on auto imports. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat, with both Australia and South Korea little changed. On Wall Street, the indices ended higher during the overnight trade on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 116 points to settle at 25,648 levels while the S&P500 inched up 16 points to close at 2,851 levels. The Nasdaq closed 88 points higher at 7,822 levels.