BSE Sensex opens up 1.28 pc, markets choppy

Mumbai: The BSE Sensex opened up 1.28 per cent on Wednesday, buoyed by gains in US and Asian markets.

At 9:55 am, the 30-share BSE index was up 1.32 per cent, or 115.57 points, at 8,854.81. The 50-issue NSE index was up 0.78 per cent at 2,678.55 points.

Moneycontrol.com reported that markets have opened flat and are trading with some choppiness.

The Nifty is hovering at around 2800 level.

(With inputs from Reuters and IANS)

Buying is seen in metal, select capital goods, oil and power stocks. However, selling is seen in select technology, realty and banking stocks.

At 9:58 am, the Sensex tumbled 122 points to 9,262 and the Nifty fell 17 points to 2,792.

Gainers are Tata Steel, SAIL, DLF, Idea Cellular, ONGC, Reliance Communication, Siemens, Reliance Infrastructure, NTPC, Reliance Power and Reliance Industries. However, Suzlon Energy, Unitech, L&T, ICICI Bank, Cairn India, Infosys and HDFC bank are losers.

Kingfisher Airlines jumped over 9 per cent, as there are reports that the company is planning to sell some stake and is in talks with some overseas airline players.

Asian markets are trading flat. Shanghai Composite rose 8.47 points or 0.43 per cent to 1,994.91. Hang Seng gained 191.04 points or 1.41 per cent at 13,733.70. Jakarta Composite is flat at 1,264.44. Nikkei rose 236.02 points or 2.79 per cent to 8,698.41. Kospi gained 8.56 points or 0.79 per cent at 1,096.82.

However, Straits Times fell 1.55 points or 0.09 per cent to 1,757.59 and Taiwan Weighted lost 5.48 points or 0.12 per cent to 4,447.22.

US markets ended lower. An effort to rally in late trade could not be sustained as selling pressure intensified to rapidly send the stock market back to session lows.

The Dow plunged 337.93 points, or 3.82 per cent, to 8,497.31. The Nasdaq tumbled 79.85 points, or 5 per cent, to 1,516.85 and the Standard & Poor's 500 index down 38 points, or 4.17 per cent, to 873.29.

Decrease in retail sales and weaker demand for mobile phones capped second straight weekly loss for US markets, which raised concern about the depth of the recession.

On Tuesday, the markets had ended lower despite showing sharp recovery in last one hour of trade.