Nifty Consolidates: RIL dips

The Nifty slipped in opening trade on the back of profit booking as indices had rallied 3.5% on Tuesday. But index has managed to show some recovery and was witnessing a consolidation.

Rise in crude oil prices to USD 103 a barrel due to ongoing geopolitical concerns related to the Middle East and North Africa was also impacting markets a bit. Indian markets were shut on Wednesday.

BPCL, L&T, IDFC, Reliance Infrastructure, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Infosys, HCL Tech, Sesa Goa, SAIL, JSPL, Tata Steel, Sterlite Industries, TCS, Reliance Industries and Jaiprakash Associates were dragging the markets down.

However, Cairn, Ambuja Cements, ONGC, HDFC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HUL, ITC, Hero Honda and Bajaj Auto (after monthly sales numbers) were supporting the markets.

At 9:17 hours, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading at 18,323, down 123 points and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 35 points to 5,487.

The CNX Midcap Index declined 33 points to 7,576. About 249 shares advanced as against 576 shares declined on National Stock Exchange.