Sensex, Nifty start on a choppy note

Mumbai: Benchmark equity indices opened on a choppy note on Thursday as investors turned cautious ahead of quarterly results of key bluechips amid weak Asian cues.

The 30-share Sensex was trading 40.08 points, or 0.11 per cent, lower at 36,172.83. The NSE Nifty too witnessed similar movement, and was trading 8.30 points, or 0.08 per cent, lower at 10,846.85.

Analysts expect market to continue to remain volatile in the coming months in the wake of upcoming general elections. Q3FY19 results will closely be watched by market participants, said Hemang Jani, Head - Advisory, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas. TCS is scheduled to announce its quarterly results later in the day.

"On the micro front slowdown auto and commodities stocks, liquidity crunch in the NBFC space, increase in farm loan waivers continue to remain a cause of concern. Global markets too continue to be volatile on the back of US-China trade tariffs and the ongoing government shutdown in the US," Jani added.

Top losers include IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, HCL Tech, Kotak Bank, HDFC, Bharti Airtel, PowerGrid, Asian Paints, TCS and SBI, falling up to 1.30 per cent. While top gainers include Tata Motors, Yes Bank, NTPC, ONGC, Tata Steel and Infosys, rising up to 0.96 per cent.

On the macro front, the rupee appreciated 11 paise to 70.35 against the US dollar in early trade at the interbank foreign exchange. Brent crude futures were trading 0.86 per cent lower at USD 60.91 per barrel.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net of Rs 276.14 crore Wednesday and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 439.67 crore, provisional data available with BSE suggested.

Elsewhere in Asia, Japan's Nikkei fell 1.40 per cent and Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.23 per cent, while Korea's Kospi fell 0.05 per cent.

On Wall Street, Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 91.67 points, or 0.39 per cent, to 23,879.12 on Wednesday.