Nifty holds 5400 mark; realty, banks, autos gain

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The BSE Sensex was trading in the positive terrain on the back of buying interest in realty, banks, auto, capital goods and metal stocks. However, select pharma and IT stocks were trading lower. The BSE midcap and smallcap indices were up nearly 1% each.

The NSE Nifty was trading above its psychological 5400 mark. The Sensex was up 49.69 points or 0.28% at 17822.53, and the Nifty was up 18.20 points or 0.34% at 5408.40.

About 1402 shares have advanced, 891 shares declined, and 1106 shares are unchanged.

Vibhav Kapoor of IL&FS believes that the Nifty could retest all-time high in the next 8-12 months.He believes that the index has a strong support at 5100. Kapoor advises one to remain invested in this market, that too in cyclically and not defensives.

Top gainers on the Sensex were SBI at Rs 2,204.45 up 3.54%, M&M at Rs 715.75 up 1.76%, Hindalco at Rs 158.60 up 1.73%, Tata Motors at Rs 262.40 up 1.61% and L&T at Rs 1,348 up 1.51%.

Top losers on the Sensex were Cipla at Rs 324.10 down 5.36%, Tata Power at Rs 106.15 down 1.8%, Bharti Airtel at Rs 343.15 down 1.25%, ONGC at Rs 278 down 0.96% and Bajaj Auto at Rs 1,729.55 down 0.84%.

Refinery major HPCL was trading at Rs 288.00 up 1.21% from its previous close of Rs 284.55.

Most active shares on BSE were SBI, Dabur India, HDIL, India Infoline and JSW Steel.

Top gainers on the BSE Midcap - Alstom Projects, Amara Raja Battery, Prestige Estate, Emami and Jain Irrigation gained 4-7%.

Nifty opens below 5400; All eyes on Jan inflation data

The Indian market opened on a flat note in trade today. In macro data back home, the January inflation numbers will be announced today. A CNBC-TV18 poll sees it at 6.53% down from 7.41% in December.

The Sensex was up 5.27 points or 0.03% at 17778.11, and the Nifty was down 6.65 points or 0.12% at 5383.55. About 620 shares advanced, 380 shares declined, and 2399 shares remain unchanged.

Moody's downgrades ratings for six EU countries including Italy, Portugal and Spain. The ratings agency also warned that it may cut the triple-A ratings of France, the United Kingdom and Austria. Asian markets were trading lower.

In the largecap space, SBI, DLF, Sesa Goa, Tata Motors and GAIL were up 1-2%. Cipla, Siemens, Reliance Communications, Dr Reddys Labs and Tata Power were bleeding in red.

Amara Raja Batteries, Wockhardt, Alstom Projects, Balkrishna Industries and BGR Energy were star performers in the midcap space. On the losing side, Vaarad Ventures, Aurobindo Pharma, Suzlon Energy, Monnet Ispat and Educomp Solutions were down 2-5%.

In the smallcap space, Sasken Communications, Manaksia, Disa India, Jamna Auto and DCM Shriram Con were up 6-14%. Gati, Chartered Logis, Hindustan Media and Cambridge Sol were down 4-8%.

Technical Outlook by ICICIdirect

We said, "The index is back into the range ... Weakness below the range could turn the bias negative. Otherwise, positive options remain open." The Index maintained the range for the sixth straight day and ended flat. Most sectoral Indices also ended flat. Dollar-converted indices outperformed on rupee strength. The A/D ratio also ended flat.

The action formed an indecisive High Wave candle. With shadows on both sides, it indicates indecision and intra-day volatility. Though the Green channel is coming under test, weakness below six-day is still required for turning the bias to negative. Protecting the six-day low maintains positive options otherwise. Watch the range.

In the currency space, the euro was muted in early Asia trade today and the dollar index steady around 79 mark. Crude prices declined marginally from yesterday's levels and are currently around USD 117 per barrel. Gold remains rangebound at USD 1730 per ounce.

The US markets started off on a high note. Optimism over Greece, after the parliament passed the austerity measures aimed at securing the second tranche of the bailout package boosted investor confidence. The S&P 500 closed above 1350 and the Nasdaq rallied to end near 11-year high.

F&O cues:
Nifty PCR rose to 1.42 from 1.41
Total Put adds 11.1 lakh shares, call adds 2.6 lakh shares
Nifty 5500 Call, 5300 Put and 5200 Put seeing highest Total OI
5400 Put; saw selling; adds 3.98 lakh (8.4%) shares in OI; prem down 24.3%
5500 Put; saw selling; adds 3.33 lakh (4.9%) shares in OI; prem down 16.8%
5500 Call; saw selling; adds 2.36 lakh (23.6%) shares in OI; prem down 5.3%
5600 Call; saw selling; adds 1.58 lakh (3.8%) shares in OI; prem down 18.4%
5700 Call; saw selling; adds 83K (3%) shares in OI; prem down 31.7%
Stock futures OI adds 3.13 cr shares in OI
Nifty future sheds 2.9 lakh shares in OI
India VIX closed at 23.71 down by 0.5%
Aban Offshore and ABG Shipyard is in F&O Ban