The domestic stock markets have opened on a cautious note in the absence of any positive cues from the global front. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes ended lower on Monday as tech shares weighed on equities in the quarter's final week and stocks in Asia-Pacific largely declined as firms downgraded China's GDP forecasts. At 9:18 am, the BSE Sensex was trading at 60,029.60, lower by 73.50 points or 0.12 per cent and the NSE Nifty was at 17,843.20, down 13 points.
The broader markets are outperforming their largecap peers, with the BSE Midcap index and BSE Smallcap index gaining around 0.2 per cent each.
On the global front, the Dow Jones rose 0.21 per cent to 34,869.37 overnight, while the S&P 500 lost 0.28 per cent at 4,443.11; and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.52 per cent to 14,969.97.
Stocks in Asia-Pacific largely declined in Tuesday morning trade, as various firms downgraded China's GDP forecasts. South Korea's Kospi slipped 0.81 per cent. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.72 per cent while the Topix index shed 0.99 per cent. The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia dipped 0.28 per cent.
On the stock-specific front, information technology stocks are trading weak on Tuesday morning, with HCL, Infosys and Tech Mahindra losing around 1 per cent each on the BSE. IT stocks are seeing profit-booking for the second consecutive day post their recent gains.
On the other hand, power stocks are trading firm, with NTPC and Powergrid gaining around 3 per cent each on the BSE. Ultratech Cement, Titan and SBI are the other significant gainers in the Sensex pack.
The BSE market breadth is weak. Out of 2,721 stocks traded on the BSE thus far, there are 1,514 advancing shares as against 1,055 declines.
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