MUMBAI: Benchmarks were drifting lower after a soft opening Thursday following weakness in other Asian markets. Selling activity was seen in realty, IT and banks while metals and FMCG held fort.

“Another lackluster start and an equally insipid day of trade could be in store for us. Fatigue seems to be taking a toll on the bulls. The key indices are attempting to break out of a range where the correction had set-in last month. The trouble is that there are no great events in the near term that could trigger a big push towards new highs. Winter session of parliament begins today.

What is favouring the bulls so far is the relentless inflow of overseas money. This may continue as the dollar is unlikely to rebound sharply. But, as Christmas holidays approach there is likely to be some softening even in these flows. Local funds have already turned net sellers.

Add to this, the anxiety over the shape of the economic recovery and the market could see some cooling. Valuations for many of the leading stocks are not too compelling either. In the immediate future, the market will remain sideways and listless though action would be seen in the mid-cap counters,” said India Infoline report.

At 11:06 am, National Stock Exchange’s Nifty was at 5025.25, down 29.45 points or 0.58 per cent. The broader index hit a low of 5021.60 and high of 5053.45 in early trade.

Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex was at 16881.18, down 117.60 points or 0.69 per cent. The index touched a low of 16878.95 and high of 17004.98 in trade so far.

“For the day initially the level of 5040/16950 may act as a crucial support for the market failure to hold these levels will push the market to 5010/16880 levels. Sustenance of the market below the same in the second half will extend the short term weakness to the level 4960/16700. In the worst case the market may even fall up to 4870/16410 levels.

However, these levels will offer excellent fresh trading/positional buy opportunity in the market. On the higher side the level of 5085/5075 may act as major hurdle area and sustenance above 5085/17110 will lift the market towards 5125/5130 (17250) levels,” said Kotak Securities note.

BSE Smallcap Index was up 0.43 per cent while BSE Midcap Index was flat.

Amongst the sectoral indices, BSE Realty Index was down 1.57 per cent, BSE IT Index slipped 1.11 per cent and BSE Bankex declined 0.94 per cent. BSE Metal Index was up 0.63 per cent and BSE FMCG Index edged 0.24 per cent higher.

Suzlon (3.82%), Ranbaxy Laboratories (1.75%), Reliance Power (1.25%), Jindal Steel (1.12%), Power Grid (0.81%) were amongst the top Nifty gainers.

HCL Tech (-2.56%), Jaiprakash Associates (-2.29%), Siemens (-2.03%), Unitech (-1.62%), ICICI Bank (-1.49%) were amongst the top losers.

Market breadth was positive on the BSE with 1243 advances and 1011 declines.

Meanwhile Most Asian markets were in the negative terrain. FTSE 100 was down 1.64 per cent, Hang Seng fell 0.53 per cent and Taiwan Weighted declined 0.17 per cent.