FIRST TRADE: Sensex, Nifty turn flat after opening in green; SBI up 1%, ITC slips 1%

The benchmark indices turned flat after opening with decent gains on May 19, Friday. The S&P BSE Sensex traded around 61,458.53 levels while the NSE's Nifty was trading at 18,106.15 points. SBI (up over 1 per cent) was the top gainer on the Sensex, followed by Infosys, and HCL Tech - up nearly 1 per cent. 

Nifty is finding it difficult to break the 18,100-18,400 range, in spite of favourable global cues and good Q4 results. The US 10-year bond yield has risen to 3.64 and the rupee has weakened to 82.65 to the dollar. This currency movement is not supportive of the equity market and FII buying is getting neutralised by DII selling, notes Dr V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

The 6 per cent rally in Nifty from the March lows has been used as a profit booking opportunity by DIIs and traders. This trend is evident from the ‘sell on news’ in major stocks like SBI and ITC in spite of good results. The 'sell on rally' strategy of the bears has been working this week. The near-term outlook is cloudy, the market analyst adds.