Nifty flat in late-afternoon trade; RIL, ONGC, L&T laggards

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The market remained rangebound due to two way move in largecaps. Reliance, ONGC, L&T, Bharti and SBI weighed down the market while HDFC Bank, BHEL, NTPC, technology and auto stocks were supporting the market.

The BSE benchmark Sensex lost 35 points to 17,672.26 and the Nifty slipped 10 points to 5,358.60.

Shares of Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel, ONGC, L&T and Tata Steel were down 1-2%. ITC and SBI were moderately lower. Hindalco retained its top position in the selling list, falling more than 5%.

However, HDFC Bank, Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto, JSPL, NTPC, Hero Motocorp, Tata Power and Sterlite fell 1.5-2.5%. Infosys, BHEL, Wipro and ICICI Bank were down with moderate losses.

The market had rallied over 15% in previous five weeks while the current week has been volatile since the beginning. N Jayakumar, president at Prime Securities feels that the market has not been able to capture the rise fully.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Jayakumar said that the picture looks brighter even now. He is expecting it to head higher but with minor corrections.

On the global front, European markets were up 0.8% amid choppy trade. especially ahead of emergency board meeting of eurozone finance ministers over discussion of Greek debt deal today.

At 12:45 hours IST : Tepid Sensex finds few takers, HDFC Bank, Tata Motors gain

The market continued to hover around its previous closing value due to mixed trade in global markets, ahead of emergency meet of euro area finance ministers to discuss Greece debt deal. The Sensex was down just 32 points at 17,675.52 and the Nifty declined 7 points to 5,361.25.

Philip Poole, global head of emerging markets at HSBC is upbeat about Greece. He tells CNBC-TV18 that the nation is getting close to a solution to the crisis and that a debt swap deal is most likely before March.

Back home, shares of Hindalco crashed 6% on dismal performance by its subsidiary Novelis in Q3. ONGC, IDFC, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma and L&T were down 1-2.5%. Reliance Industries, ITC, HDFC, TCS, SBI and Sterlite fell 0.5-1%.

However, Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto, NTPC, Hero Motocorp, HDFC Bank, Cairn India, Reliance Power, Reliance Communications and Siemens were biggest gainers among largecaps, rising 1.5-3%.

In the second line shares, Fresenius Kabi and Puravankara Projects shot up 11-14%. Tata Investment Corp, Delta Corp and Blue Star gained 6-8%. However, Responsive Industries, Muthoot Finance, Manappuram Finance, Vaarad Ventures and India Infoline lost 3-8%.

Smallcaps like Gati, Jayaswal Neco, Hindustan Dorr-Olive, Andrew Yule and HEG rallied 10-16% while Venkys, Warren Tea, ARSS Infra, Odyssey Corp and Asian Hotels fell 5-6%.

The market breadth remained positive; about 1563 shares advanced while 985 shares declined on the BSE. The broader markets moved up 0.8%.