Nifty, Sensex in tight range; L&T, TCS, BHEL under pressure

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty continued to move in a narrow range since early trade due to lack of global and local cues. The market seems to have priced in Spain woes and lack of support to foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail. It is eagarly waiting for the Reserve Bank of India's move on July 31 and some more June quarter earnings.

The BSE benchmark gained 34.15 points at 16,911.50 and the NSE benchmark rose 11.4 points to 5,129.35.

Fast moving consumer goods major HUL remained top gainer among largecaps, rising 5.5% after its profit after tax doubled to Rs 1331 crore helped by property sale during the quarter ended June 2012. Cigarette major ITC was up 0.8%.

Country's largest lenders State Bank of India and ICICI Bank were up 0.6%-0.8%. Shares of Naveen Jindal's flagship company JSPL rose 0.7% ahead of first quarter numbers today.

Private steel producer Sterlite Industries rallied 3%. Top car maker Maruti Suzuki moved up 1.8% on short covering.

However, capital goods majors Larsen & Toubro and BHEL were down 0.9% and 1.5%, respectively.

Wipro, country's third largest software services exporter tanked 3% after the company has guided for a flattish growth in the second quarter. It met street expectations on Tuesday, with a consolidated net profit of Rs 1,580.2 crore in April-June, up 18% year-on-year.

Top software services exporter TCS and commercial vehicle maker Tata Motors were down 0.6% each.