Mkts choppy; midcap, smallcap stocks shine

ALSO READ See Key Market Stats - Top Gainers/ Losers, Most Actives, Highs/Lows See how Global Markets are trading Indian ADRs Nifty BSE | NSE 07/02/12 Are Mutual Funds betting on Nifty?

At 10:30 hours IST - the benchmark indices were trading with some volatility, as one third stocks on the Sensex and one fifth stocks on the Nifty were trading sharply lower while others remained supportive. The broader indices continued their outperformance today as well.

The Sensex was trading at 14,226, down 75 points and the Nifty was down 10 points, to 4,308, at 10:30 hours IST. Among the broader indices - BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 3.5-4.5%. The markets had opened sharply lower - the Sensex were down over 200 points and the Nifty fell over 50 points but immediately in few minutes managed to recover those losses.

The market breadth was strong due to gains in broader indices; about 2049 shares advanced while 620 shares declined. Nearly 452 shares were unchanged.

Among the midcap stocks, Hindustan Construction Company and Tulip Telecom surged over 21% each. Simplex Infra, JM Financial and Omaxe gained 16-20%.

In the smallcap space, Swan Mills, IVR Prime, UB Holdings, Shriram EPC and Kirloskar Ferro went up 13.5-20%.

Among the frontliners, Bharti Airtel, BHEL, Reliance Communication, ICICI Bank, DLF, HDFC Bank, Reliance Capital and Idea Cellular plunged 2.5-6.5%. Reliance Industries and Wipro fell half a percent.

However, ONGC, L&T, SBI, SAIL, ABB, TCS, Tata Steel, Infosys, NTPC, Unitech, Hindalco, Tata Motors, HDFC, Reliance Infrastructure and BCPL were gainers.

On the sectoral front, Metal, Realty, Capital Goods, Healthcare, IT and Auto indices were down 1-3%. However, Bankex fell 1.4%.

On the next page - See how Indian markets performed in the last half an hour _ PAGEBREAK_
Mkts volatile; Bharti, Rel Comm, ICICI Bk, BHEL, DLF dip

The markets opened sharply lower (the Sensex was down over 200 points and the Nifty fell over 50 points) but immediately in seconds they managed to recover majority of losses and were trading marginally lower. The Nifty was hovering around the 4300 level while the Sensex was holding the 14,000 mark.

At 9:56 am, the Sensex was trading at 14,232, down 69 points and the Nifty fell 16 points, to 4,302. However, the CNX Midcap went up 1.7%, to 4,827. Nearly 700 shares advanced while 138 shares declined.

Among the frontliners, ICICI Bank, Unitech, Suzlon Energy, Siemens, Reliance Capital, Bharti, DLF, ONGC, Sterlite, Reliance Communication, BHEL and HUL were witnessing selling pressure.

However, TCS, HCL Tech, Reliance Industries, L&T, Ranbaxy Labs, Hindalco, Ambuja Cements, Tata Steel, ABB, Tata Communications and Tata Motors were the gainers.

Among the midcaps, IFCI, JP Associates, Indiabulls Real, Indiabulls Securities, Kingfisher, Praj Industries, Mercator Lines and Alok Industries surged over 5%.

Global cues:

Asian markets were trading mixed. Taiwan Weighted gained 1%. Nikkei, Straits Times and Kospi were up just 0.2-0.3%. However, Shanghai and Hang Seng fell 0.1-0.2%.

The US markets ended near the day's low on disappointing housing data and decline in financials after credit card bill.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 29.2 points at 8,475, which slipped 65 points from day's high of 8,539. The S&P 500 Index lost 1.58 points or 0.17%, to 908.13, which slipped 9 points from day's high of 917. However, the Nasdaq Composite gained 2.18 points or 0.13% at 1,734.54, which slipped 15 points from day's high of 1,750.

On the next page - Commodities, Market cues, F&O cues _ PAGEBREAK_
Commodities

Nymex Crude June expired down 1.1% at $ 59.65/bbl, highest settlement since November 10.

Nymex Crude July held above $60/bbl, a six-month high.

Baltic Dry index was up 1.5% at 2644, made 2009 high for 13 consecutive days. It was trading at 7-month highs.

Gold gained 0.5% at $926.7/ounce. Silver was up 2.1% at $14.12/ounce.

Base metals were off highs on weak US data.

Market cues:

-NSE F&O open interest up by Rs 1,048 crore to Rs 87,891 crore
-FIIs net buy Rs 4,792.56 crore in equities on Tuesday (Provisional)
-DIIs net sell Rs 1,964.2 crore in equities on Tuesday (Provisional)

F&O cues:

-Stock Futures adds 2.52 crore shares in (open interest) OI
-Futures Open Interest up Rs 1,141 crore, Options Open Int down Rs 92.3 crore
-Nifty down 0.1%, Futures OI up 2%
-Nifty OI PCR at 1.21 Vs 1.19
-Nifty May Futures trading at 24-point premium (delta hedging the key)
-Nifty IVs (implied volatility) between 70-75% levels
-Nifty Calls shed 24.6 lakh shares in OI
-Nifty Puts add 12,000 shares in OI