Nifty lacks spark; HUL, NTPC stand out in flat market
It was another rangebound session for the Indian equity benchmarks on Tuesday - especially after that sharp spike up seen on last Friday. The market remained sideways as if it could be waiting for some trigger like EGoM meet, government policies, any global event etc - so that it would give direction on either side.
It was another rangebound session for the Indian equity benchmarks on Tuesday - especially after that sharp spike up seen on last Friday. The market remained sideways as if it could be waiting for some trigger like EGoM meet, government policies, crude movement, any global event etc - so that it would give direction on either side.
Rajan Malik, Head equities, Private client group, MF Global advised caution at current level. "Right now the joker in the pack is going to be oil and it is difficult to say how it is going to move going forward. But one would assume at least for the next quarter one would have to be very careful with these markets and if anything I would tend to believe that there is more downside risk than upside risk," Malik said. The 50-share NSE Nifty traded in broad range of 5540-5590 during the day, before closing at 5541.25, down 9.85 points. The 30-share BSE Sensex fell just 16.19 points, to end at 18,512.77.From the general trend in the market, N Sethuram, CIO, Daiwa Mutual Funds said there could be a little more of correction. "But in terms of the valuation of the stocks and the general market as a whole, we are at levels where the valuations are quite comfortable. I do not see any case for the markets to go down much further from these levels," he said. Private financial, capital goods, cement and even oil & gas companies' shares saw selling pressure. However, telecom, FMCG and realty stocks provided a support the market.NTPC and HUL stood out in the flat market, with rising more than 4%. India's largest power generation company NTPC has reported net profit for the quarter ended March 2011 at Rs 2,782 crore - that was quite better than provisional figure of Rs 2,505 crore. Same with net sales figure.HUL remained on buyers' radar for second consecutive day after fourth quarter numbers yesterday. Even the company had approved demerge of its exports division.Sterlite Industries, Ranbaxy Labs (ahead of numbers) and Jaiprakash Associates were other top gainers on Nifty, with gaining 2-3%. Heavyweights like TCS, ITC and Bharti Airtel too were gainers.However, oil marketing companies' shares slipped after Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) meeting on fuel price hike has been deferred, reports CNBC-TV18 quoting PTI. BPCL lost 0.5% and Reliance Industries lost 0.9%.Private financials like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Axis Bank saw profit booking today, with losing 0.5-1.5%. Infosys, BHEL and L&T were other losers, which lost 0.5-1%.SKS Microfinance and Essar Shipping were locked at 10% upper circuit. SKS rebounded after seeing fall in 12 consecutive sessions and Essar Shipping will be demerged into two companies - existing company will be called Essar Port & demerged entity will be called Essar Shipping.However, Kwality Dairy was locked at 20% lower circuit despite strong quarterly numbers. Jubilant Foodworks was down 6% on profit booking. Market breadth was mixed - about 608 shares advanced as against 679 shares advanced on the National Stock Exchange.But global markets were strong. European markets were trading higher by 1%. Dow Jones and Nasdaq futures too were up nearly 0.5%.London Brent crude was trading at USD 115.14 a barrel, down USD 0.76 and NYMEX crude fell USD 1.29 to USD 101.26/barrel._PAGEBREAK_Sensex rangebound; HUL, Sterlite Ind top gainersIndian equity benchmarks were trading rangebound in late afternoon trade. Banks, capital goods stocks were trading weak while some buying was seen in FMCG and realty stocks.Housing finance company HDFC has announced its fourth quarter results. The company
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