Mkts trading flat, Sensex down

Mumbai: The stock markets have opened on a quiet note on Friday and the Sensex is trading flat after initial small gains.

At 1100 hrs IST, the Sensex was down 36 points on sustained profit-booking by foreign funds and operators.

The Sensex opened firm at 12,570.52 and immediately rallied to a high of 12,638.78, a smart rise of 94.93 points over the previous close of 12,543.85.

However, it soon came under heavy selling pressure and fell back to a low of 12,450.85 before being quoted at 12,512.11 at 1100 hrs IST.

Top gainers on the Sensex are Tata Motors at Rs 740 up 1.95 per cent, Dr Reddys Labs at Rs 685.85 up 1.62 per cent and Cipla at Rs 230.30 up 1.34 per cent.

Top losers on the Sensex are Reliance Comm at Rs 383 down 1.96 per cent, Bharti Airtel at Rs 724 down 0.52 per cent and NTPC at Rs 140.15 down 0.25 per cent.

Asian Markets:

Pressured by a stronger yen, export-oriented stocks such as Japanese automakers fell in early trade today in Tokyo, helping drag the benchmark Nikkei 225 Average down as much as 200 points shortly after the open.

Japan's Nikkei plunged 0.92 per cent or 155.46 points at 16,704.93, Singapore's Straits Times was down 1.01 per cent or 31.35 points at 3,063.25, South Korea's Seoul Composite fell 0.44 per cent or 6.33 points at 1,420.6, Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted tumbled 0.22 per cent or 16.97 points at 7,678.99. However, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.70 per cent or 132.51 points at 18,969.44.

US Markets:

The Dow rose 26.28 points, or 0.22 per cent, to 12,159.68. The Dow is 627 points below its closing high of 12,786.64, reached February 20.