Here's how the Markets opened today

Indian stocks consolidated on Friday after a 4-day drop in prices prompted investors to bottom fish among beaten down valuations. Traders, meanwhile, hunted for price action on the first day of the new monthly series in the derivatives space.

The Nifty rose 5 points to 8,117 points at the start of trade. Dr. Reddy's, ICICI Bank, Yes bank, NTPC and Vedanta gained ground on the index while ONGC, M&M, ITC, Hindustan Unilever and Infosys dropped in trade. The Advance-Decline Ratio stood at 28/20 on the Nifty.

Dr. Reddy's, ITC and Axis Bank were the top traded stocks on the index while Suzlon, Unitech and HCC topped the most traded chart on the National Stock Exchange.

Bits of green were seen on the broader markets where the CNX 100, CNX 200 and CNX 500 indices inched up a little. The trend was mixed in the sectoral space with the FMCG benchmark dropping the most, about a percent. Small dips were seen on Auto, Media and software sectors while the pharma index gained more than 1 percent. The Banking sector perked up as well with modest gains seen on private and PSU banks.
The Sensex inched up 18 points to 26,856 on the Bombay Stock Exchange. Reliance Industries, Tata Steel, Sun Pharma and Lupin were among gainers. Maruti, Tata Motors and Bajaj Auto dropped in trade. The Advance-Decline Ratio stood at 14/18 in the first half of trade with Dr. Reddy's, Axis Bank and Larsen being the top traded shares on the Sensex.

The wider market saw bulls dominating the first 30 minutes of trade with 928 stocks gaining compared with 439 that fell.

Trade was tentative in the futures and options space where the first day of the new monthly series took root. Traders whetted out winners from losers with Glenmark, Bharat Forge and Dr. Reddy's Futures gaining ground. Dips were seen in futures of Hexaware, Apollo Tyres and Just Dial. Most sectors were in the green except for futures belonging to the capital goods, FMCg and Technology spaces.

State Bank of Travancore, TRF and Praj Industries made it to the top volume buzzers list on the NSE. Bombay Rayon, LT Foods and NIIT Technologies hit fresh highs in early deals while JM Financial and Murli Industries sunk to new lows.

Image credit: Indiatimes