Nifty trades in narrow range; SBI, Maruti, Infy most active

The NSE Nifty continued to trade in a narrow range of 5315-5340, led by a fall in oil & gas, metal, capital goods, cement and healthcare stocks. The 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 70 points to 17,735 and the 50-share NSE Nifty lost 28 points to 5,332.65.

Among largecaps, Tata Motors, Sterlite Industries, Jindal Steel, Hindalco, ONGC, Ambuja Cements, Ranbaxy Labs and M&M slipped 2-3.5%.

However, Wipro, NTPC, Infosys, HDFC Bank, Hero Motocorp, IDFC and Sesa Goa were top gainers among largecaps, rising 0.5-2%.

SBI, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank and Infosys were most active shares on exchanges.

In the midcap space, Essar Ports was locked at 20% upper circuit. Vijaya Bank, Hindustan National Glass, HOEC and EIH were up 4-4.5% while Gitanjali Gems, Shree Global, Vaarad Ventures, Sujana Towers and Jaypee Infra lost 3-6%.

Vijaya Bank shot up 6% post a rise of 41% in its profit of Rs 204 crore for the quarter ended September 2011.

Asian markets continued to trade lower. Straits Times, Kospi and Hang Seng lost 1% each.

At 10:35 hours IST : Sensex falls; oil & gas, banks, capital goods down

Indian equity benchmarks were trading lower on the back of profit booking in oil & gas, metal, banking, capital goods, cement, Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group companies and select auto stocks. The market had rallied 6% last week and hence investors are seen booking some profit today. However, cheered up by Wipro's Q2 numbers, technology stocks were quite supportive .

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 96 points to 17,709 and the 50-share NSE Nifty dropped 36 points to 5,325.

Asian markets too were under pressure. Hang Seng, Straits Times and Kospi dropped over 1%. Shanghai was down 0.5% and Taiwan down 0.34%.

From the oil & gas space, ONGC and Reliance Industries were down 2.4% and 1.2%, respectively.

Maruti Suzuki has managed to show some recovery from early day's low; the stock fell over 2%. Tata Motors was the biggest loser, falling over 3.5%. M&M too lost 1% while Hero Motocorp gained 1%.

In the metal space, Sterlite, JSPL, Hindalco and SAIL dropped 0.5-2.5%. Shares of India's largest lenders SBI and ICICI Bank declined 0.5% each. BHEL and HDFC fell over 1%.

However, Wipro was the top gainer among Nifty 50, rallying over 2% post Q2 results. Software services provider's second quarter net profit rose a better than expected 1.2% at Rs 1300.9 crore, helped by increased spending by clients and a depreciation in rupee. Infosys rose 1.34% and TCS was up just 0.3%.

Advancing stocks were outnumbering declining ones on BSE by 1227 to 1012.

_PAGEBREAK_

At 9:20 hours IST : Sensex opens marginally down; Maruti loses 4%

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell marginally in the opening trade amid profit booking post a 6% rally last week. Asian markets too were down. The BSE Sensex slipped 68 points to 17,737.03 and the NSE Nifty lost 27 points to 5,333.

Maruti Suzuki fell 4% post disappointing Q2 results. The company's Q2 net profit skid 60% year-on-year to lower-than-expected Rs
240.44 crore and net sales slipped 16% to Rs 7537.45 crore.

Hindalco, Sterlite, Tata Steel, DLF, Reliance Power, Reliance Communications, Reliance Infrastructure, Reliance Industries, Tata Motors, PNB, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank were under selling pressure.

However, Wipro gained nearly 3% post results. L&T, Siemens and ICICI Bank (ahead of results) were supporting the market.

The market breadth was mixed; about 340 shares gained as against 400 shares declined.

Results Reaction: Tata Global Beverages rose 2%. Andhra Sugar shot up 13.5%.

AP Paper rallied 4.5%.

GTL fell 2% as there were reports that its debt recast plan postponed.

Global cues

Asian markets were trading lower. Shanghai, Hang Seng, Straits Times and Kospi fell 0.3-1%. However, Nikkei rose 0.5%.

Global markets took breather ahead of crucial G-20 summit, ECB decision, FOMC policy and Ben Bernanke speech.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 22.5 points at 12,231 and the S&P 500 Index rose 0.5 points to 1,285 on Friday. NASDAQ Composite was down 2 points at 2,737.

Commodities

Gold ended flat at USD 1747.2/ ounce on Friday. It gained 6.3% or USD 105 for a week and was up 23% YTD.

Silver moved up 0.3% at USD 35.29/ ounce. It rallied USD 3.65 or 11.5% for week.

Crude oil was down 0.7% at USD 93.32/barrel on Friday. It was up 7% last week - best levels in close to three months.

Natural gas was up 4.1% at USD 3.92/mmbtu