The Sensex was trading lower by 3 points, while the Nifty shed 1 point in early trade. Among the losers
in trade from the index stocks were Tata Power, Tata Motors, Reliance Industries, NTPC and Coal India.

ICICI Bank lost ground and was trading 0.67 per cent lower ahead of its results to be declared later today. Shares of Colgate on the other hand dropped almost two per cent after its net profits disappointed investors.

Merck was trading higher after the company reported decent numbers for the quarter ending December 31, 2012.

PSU banking stocks which came in for heavy selling pressure on Thursday saw some recovery in trade. Among the PSU banks that gained today were Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, State Bank of India and Union Bank of India.

Realty stocks were trading lower with the CNX Realty index in the negative. Realty stocks that lost ground in trade were Anant Raj, DB Realty, Parsvnath, Oberoi Realty and Indiabulls.

Metal stocks were the clear laggards in trade today with Hindalco, Nalco, Tata Steel and Jindal Saw all dropping in trade today. Among non index stocks Unity Infra rose after the company received an order worth Rs 235 crores.

Meanwhile, most of Asia was trading in the red, except the Chinese Shanghai Composite which was trading with gains.

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