Choppy Sensex trades higher; BGR Energy most active

The market was hovering around its previous closing value after shedding all its gains. Banks & financials, auto, FMCG stocks and L&T were dragging the market down. However, oil & gas, steel stocks, and BHEL & Bharti Airtel were still generating buying interest. 

The Sensex fell 8 points to 17,723.07 and the Nifty declined just 4 points to 5,371.55. However, the Nifty March future was still trading with 50 points premium.

Top gainers

Shares of ONGC and Reliance were top gainers among largecaps, gaining 3.6%.

Sterlite Industries, Tata Steel, Bharti, Wipro, Tata Power and SAIL moved up 1.5-3%.

Top losers

L&T fell over 3% on reports that it may not get any unit from NTPC order. Reports suggest that BGR Energy (gained 7%) is likely to get 6-7 units and BHEL (rises 1.3%) 4-5 units from total NTPC's order of 11 units of 660 MW each.

HDFC Bank and Jindal Steel were down 2.5%. Reliance Infrastructure, Siemens, Maruti Suzuki and ITC fell 1-1.8%.

Fresh longs were seen in BGR Energy and there was 19% addition of open interest.

Kingfisher Airlines rose 0.8% on reports that the company will meet lenders at 4 pm today.

The European Central Bank (ECB) will conduct its second longer term refinancing operation (LTRO) today. People are expecting around 500 billion euro. “If we do see around 300-400 billion euro, my sense is that the market will sell-off,” John Woods, managing director and chief investment strategist, APAC of Citi Private Bank said.

At 13:50 hours IST: Sensex gives up gains; L&T, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank drag

The volatile market washed out all its morning gains, weighed down by HDFC Bank, L&T, ICICI Bank and TCS. However, the buying in oil & gas, steel, Bharti Airtel and BHEL limited the downside. The Sensex fell 30 points to 17,701.42 and the Nifty lost 15.6 points to 5,359.90.

It is the best time to book your profits and hold onto cash for a while, says Ambareesh Baliga of Way2Wealth. “With another correction, we will see levels of 5225 once again.”

Private sector lenders like HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank were down 2.5% & 1%, respectively. Tata Motors, Jindal Steel, M&M and Maruti were down 1-3%; TCS fell 0.7%.

Capital goods majors were mixed due to NTPC tender. Reports suggest that BGR Energy is lowest bidder for NTPC tender and BHEL is second lowest bidder; respective stocks gained 5% & 1.3%. BGR is likely to get 6-7 NTPC units and BHEL is likely to get 4-5 units. NTPC tender was for 11x660 MW boiler units. However, L&T lost 2.7% as it seemed to be not getting any order from NTPC.

However, shares of Reliance Industries and ONGC remained top gainers, rising 2% & 3.6%, respectively.

Bharti Airtel, SBI, Bajaj Auto, Wipro, Tata Steel, Tata Power, Sun Pharma and Sterlite gained 0.5-1.5%. Infosys and ITC were moderately higher.

Standard Chartered IDR gained more than a percent amid huge volumes after better full year earnings by parent company Standard Chartered Plc. Standard Chartered Plc reported a net income of USD 4.85 billion in 2011, a growth of 12% as compared to USD 4.33 billion in previous year.

The broader markets too erased their all gains and the market breadth was neutral.