Indian equity indices open lower, oscillate both ways

Key Indian equity market indices opened a tad lower on Friday and moved both ways in a narrow range, tracking the movements in other Asian markets and mixed trends in the US and European counterparts.

Against the previous close at 25,841.92 points, the sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Sock Exchange (BSE) opened at 25,856.13 points.

Some 40 minutes into trading, the index was ruling at 25,785.29 points, with a loss of 56.63 points, or 0.22 percent.

At the National Stock Exchange, the broader 50-share Nifty was ruling at 7,823.15 points, with a loss of 19.60 points or 0.25 percent. While the gainers and losers among the 30 Sensex shares were evenly matched, Nifty's 30 out of 50 stocks were in the red.

The Sensex and the Nifty both closed sharply higher on Thursday on the back of signals that economic reforms were on track and the government's effort to reach out to the opposition in a bid to getting some key legislations passed during the winter session of parliament.

While the Sensex had ended with a gain of 359.40 points or 1.41 percent, over the previous day's close, the Nifty ended 111 points, or 1.43 percent higher.

"The US markets ended flat following the substantial rally seen in the previous session as stocks showed some lack of direction throughout the trading day on Thursday," Angel Broking said in a pre-market analysis.

"The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders took a breather on the heels of the volatility seen over the past few sessions. The rally seen in the previous session extended the strong upward move seen on Monday, offsetting nearly the pullback seen last week."

As for European markets, the close was in the positive territory, reacting to the minutes of the recent US Federal Reserve meeting released after the markets closed the day before, even as the European Central Bank showed signs of further stimulus measures.

But in Asia, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average and Topix fell around 0.35 percent each around. South Korea's Kospi was flat, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose a bit by 0.1 percent, while the Shanghai Composite Index moved up 0.4 percent.