Opening Bell: Sensex, Nifty trade sideways on neutral FII, dollar slide; Oberoi Realty, GP Petroleums stocks gain

On account of the weak dollar and neutral foreign institutional (FIIs) investors' sentiment, the Indian indices opened on sideways note on Thursday. The BSE Sensex edged 20 points down to 38,64 while the 50-stock Nifty went down 3 points to 11,581 levels. Realty stock Oberoi Realty gained over 1.7 per cent while the energy major GP Petroleums stocks gain over 6 per cent in eraly morning trade session.

Speaking on the current market trend Nagaraj Shetti – Senior Technical & Derivative Analyst, HDFC securities said, "After showing a minor upside bounce in the last session, the Nifty slipped into weakness yesterday and closed the day lower. Alternative candle formation continued in the Nifty as per daily time frame chart (formation of positive and negative sessions alternatively). Currently placed at the support 11,550 levels. This pattern is signaling a sideways range movement in the market." He went on to add that the short term trend of Nifty is choppy and as per the theory of alternative candle pattern, one may expect a minor upside bounce from the support in the next session.

See Zee Business Live streaming below:

Realty stock led the rise at Sensex and other major Indian indices. The BSE Realty rose near 1.19 per cent from the previous close. Realty major Indiabulls Real Estate rose over 4.5 per cent, Prestige Estates Projects stocks went up near 2.65 per cent, shares of Godrej Properties surge around 1.3 per cent while the DLF counter went northward around half a per cent.

In IT sector stocks Genesys International Corporation shares shot up over 5.5 per cent, Kellton Tech Solutions scrip rose around 1.5 per cent, MIC Electronics counter dipped over 4.5 per cent, Matrimony.com counter went up 1.5 per cent, NIIT srip went up over 1 per cent, Rolta India shares rose 1.8 per cent while Subex surge near 3.5 per cent.

Asian stocks held near eight-month highs on Thursday and the dollar slipped again on expectations global interest rates will stay lower for longer after a dovish turn by the European Central Bank and milder than expected US inflation. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan paused after four straight days of gains but held near its highest since last August. Japan's Nikkei eased 0.21 per cent as the yen strengthened. Overnight, European and US shares gained. South Korean Kopsi was down 0.2 per cent, Hang Send crashed nera 1 per cent while the Shanghai index dipped around 1.36 per cent.  

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 added 0.35 percent, the Nasdaq climbed 0.7 percent while the Dow was barely changed.