The key benchmark indices were flat in the early deals today. While IT, metal and realty stocks were under pressure, some buying interest was seen in pharma and capital goods stocks. The Sensex was trading at 14,652, down 5 points. The Nifty fell 4 points to 4,344.
“Even though the market’s expectation from the budget has tapered off, it is still quite high. But as the markets have already seen a decent correction, they might not fall much even if the budget is negative,” said Ambareesh Baliga, VP, Karvy Stock Broking.
While IT, metal and realty stocks were under pressure, some buying interest was seen in pharma and capital goods stocks. The IT index slipped 1.4 per cent. The metal index on the BSE dropped 1.1 per cent and the BSE realty index shed 0.8 per cent.
In the Sensex pack, IT major Infosys was the biggest loser. The stock fell 2.2 per cent. ONGC, Sterlite and ICICI Bank were the other main losers in the group.
Sun Pharma, Bharti Airtel and NTPC were among the prominent gainers in the group.
In US markets, major stock indices fell more than 2.6 percent on Thursday, pushing the Dow Jones industrials to their lowest level in six weeks, after the government said the unemployment rate hit a 26-year high and employers cut far more jobs than expected.
The Dow Jones industrials lost 223.32, or 2.6 percent, to 8,280.74, the lowest close since May 22. It was the average's worst day since April 20.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 26.91, or 2.9 percent, to 896.42 and the Nasdaq composite index fell 49.20, or 2.7 percent, to 1,796.52.
Asian markets were also trading lower today following losses in US markets. Japan’s Nikkei 225, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and South Korea’s Kospi were in the negative turf. The Nikkei was down 1.3 per cent at 9,746.(With AP inputs)