Indian Stock markets opened flat on Thursday and soon slipped due to selling pressure in many index stocks. BSE Sensex was trading with a loss of 282 points at 17,476. US stocks ended lower on Wednesday and Asian markets have also offered negative signals.

Metal counter Hindalco lost over 6.5% at Rs. 164. Oriental Bank of Commerce was down by 6%. Neyveli Lignite lost over 5 percent and was trading at Rs. 130. Power Finance Corporation was also down by 5 percent in early trades. Among major losers were MRPL, RCF, HMT and BILT.

Among gainers were HLL, VSNL, Glaxo-Smithkline, Zee Entertainment and ONGC. Bharti Airtel opened strong as the company declared decent increase in net profits for 3rd quarter. IPCA labs was among major gainers in early trades. The stock was up by 5%. Infosys Technologies was trading marginally up.

Indian Stock markets may remain weak for the day. Stock market analysts expect a correction of 800 – 1000 points for BSE Sensex. There may be value based buying in select counters at lower levels which may provide some support to the market.

The continued selling from FIIs may result in liquidity issues for Indian Stocks. Indian Mutual funds have been buying for past few trading sessions, but the sentiment is weak and markets have failed to bounce back after the recent decline.