Sensex seen choppy, Reliance watched

Mumbai, Nov 25: The BSE Sensex is expected to start little changed on Wednesday with no clear direction from Asian markets, but trading will be volatile ahead of expiry of derivatives contracts on Thursday.

Reliance Industries will be watched after the energy major said it had reopened 900 gas stations, which were shut down when state firms were selling heavily subsidised fuel.

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp and US buyout firm TPG have weighed a bid for bankrupt chemicals company LyondellBasell Industries that could rival Reliance’s offer of about $12 billion, Bloomberg reported.

The MSCI’s measure of Asian markets other than Japan was up 0.3 per cent by 0313 GMT, while Japan’s Nikkei was almost unchanged.

The Nifty India stock futures in Singapore were up 0.1 per cent.

“We should open mostly unchanged with the foreign cues coming in mixed. But we could see some bounce back due to (derivatives contracts) expiry tomorrow but upside will be limited,” said Ambareesh Baliga, vice-president of Karvy Stock Broking.

On Tuesday, the 30-share BSE index closed down 0.29 per cent at 17,131.08.

–Agencies