Mkts give up gains; end flat: Bank up, metal down

The markets ended on a disappointing note as they gave up most of their gains by the close of the session. Sensex slipped nearly 500 points from the day's high and Nifty was down 170 points.  PNB was down 10%, REL down 8%, SAIL and BHEL down 7%, DLF down 6% from the day's high.

12:18 pm: The markets have given up some of its gains are off the day's highs. Metal stocks are under some pressure followed by select power and FMCG stocks.  Among the top gainers were stocks from the financial space followed by realty, capital goods and IT sector.

Sensex has slipped below 16,000 mark and Nifty is below 4,900 levels.Barring the metal index all the BSE sector indices are trading in green, bankex is up 3%,  IT up 3%, realty index up 2.8%.

At 12.18 hrs IST, the Sensex is up 303.64 points or 1.94% at 15930.26, and the Nifty up 91.90 points or 1.94% at 4831.45.

About 2258 shares have advanced, 744 shares declined, and 67 shares are unchanged.

ICICI Bank is up over 5% followed by HDFC, Sun Pharma, Hero Honda and JP Associates up over 4% each.

HDFC Bank, Cairn, RPL, Unitech, L&T, DLF, Wipro, Suzlon, Infosys were among the other gainers on the indices.

Tata Steel, Reliance Energy, BHEL were among the top losers on the bourses.

In the global space, Asian markets were trading higher. Japan's Nikkei surged 4%. Dow gained 391 points to close at 12,654, after Lehman Brothers indicated that the bank can weather further credit losses. The Nasdaq shut 84 points higher at 2,363.

11:08 am: The markets are trading at the higher level but are off the day's high Sustained buying interest is seen in scrips across sectors. Among the top gainers were stocks from the financial space followed by realty, capital goods, power and IT sector. Sensex is hovering around 16,000 mark and Nifty is below 4,900 mark.

10:00 am: The markets opened with a huge gap up on strong cues from Asia and the US.  Buying was seen in scrips across sectors. Among the top gainers were stocks from the financial space followed by realty, capital goods, power and IT sector. Sensex was above 16,000 mark and Nifty breached 4,900 mark.

At 10:00 am, Sensex was at 16188 up 561 points and Nifty was at 4902 up 162 points.

All the BSE sector indices are trading in green, bankex is up 5%, realty index up 4% and capital goods up 3%.

HDFC Bank, Cairn, RPL, ICICI Bank, Unitech, L&T, DLF, Wipro, Suzlon, HDFC, Infosys were among the top gainers on the indices.

Dow gained 391 points to close at 12,654, after Lehman Brothers indicated that the bank can weather further credit losses. The Nasdaq shut 84 points higher at 2,363.

Asian markets were trading higher. Japan's Nikkei surged 3.34%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 4%, Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted added 2%, Singapore's Straits Times advanced 2.38%. South Korea's Seoul Composite was up 2.13%.

Market cues:

• Govt seeks immediate cut in steel prices, expect cuts of 10-20%
• FIIs net buy $2.7 m in equity on Mar 31, the provisional figure was net sell of $216 m
• NSE F&O Open Interest up Rs 3,455 cr at Rs 52,583 cr

F&O cues:

• Futures Open Interest up by Rs 3,317 crore and Options Open Interest up by Rs 138 cr
• Nifty Futures add 51 lakh shares in Open Interest, at 33-point premium
• Nifty Open Interest Put-Call ratio at 1.25 Vs 1.19
• Nifty Puts add 3.6 lakh shares in Open Interest
• Nifty Calls shed 2.4 lakh shares in Open Interest
• Nifty 4500 Put adds 3.8 lakh shares in Open Interest 
• Nifty 4250 Put adds 1.5 lakh shares in Open Interest 
• Nifty 4800 Call sheds 3.1 lakh shares in Open Interes
• Stock Futures add 1.5 cr shares in Open Interest