MUMBAI: Equities opened lower Friday dragged down by losses in metals and capital goods counters. The weakness across Asia weighed
on sentiment.

Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex was trading at 14924, down 80 points. National Stock Exchange’s Nifty was trading at 4424, lower by 28 points.

“The reluctance of Reliance to participate in the rally and hold its gains is something that is worrying us. Otherwise, in such an environment where Shanghai Composite surged 4%, the beaten down leader should have led from the front. And since today is a Friday, the closing will be the weekly closing as well. We still believe that any gains in the Sensex need to be utilised to reduce exposure. The Sensex has its 20 DMA at 15316. A close above that will have us change our bearish cloak,” said Anagram Stock Broking.

Most Asian markets came off their early highs Friday led by Japanese markets where stocks remained under considerable pressure. The Nikkei dropped 1.28 per cent, Topix fell 1.19 per cent, Hang Seng edged 0.21 per cent higher and CSI 300 Index advanced 1.93 per cent.

Meanwhile, US stocks rose for a third straight session on Thursday with financial stocks leading gains after US manufacturing data and a rebound in Chinese stocks reassured
investors.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 70.89 points, or 0.76 per cent, to 9,350.05. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index climbed 10.91 points, or 1.09 percent, to 1,007.37. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 19.98 points, or 1.01 percent, to 1,989.22.