Nifty in narrow range; Cairn tops buy list

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The Nifty was moving in a tight range of 5355-5380 since morning trade after a rally seen in previous five sessions. Banks and index heavyweight Reliance Industries continued to support the market while infrastructure and Bharti Airtel weighed down. The BSE benchmark rose 11 points to 17,718 and the Nifty gained 4.5 points at 5,366.15.

Among largecaps, shares of Cairn India topped the buying list, rising 3.5% post crude hit 6-month high yesterday to USD 116.5 a barrel.

ACC, Jindal Steel, Reliance Industries, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Hero Motocorp, ICICI Bank and ITC climbed 1-2%.

However, Bharti Airtel was the biggest loser among largecaps, falling 2.5%. Sun Pharma, BHEL, HUL and GAIL fell nearly 2%.

In the midcap space, Puravankara Project, South Indian Bank, Central Bank of India, Birla Corp and Madras Cements shot up 5.5-11% while Manappuram Finance plunged 16%. Zydus Wellness, India Infoline, KSK Energy Ventures and Muthoot Finance slipped 5-7%.

Smallcap stocks like JSW Holdings, Mangalam Cement, Numeric Power, Nalwa Sons and Manaksia gained 10-17% whereas Bliss GVS, NCC, Su-raj Diamonds, Midvalley Entertainment and Kama Holdings tanked 5-10%.

The market breadth remained neutral.

At 11:36 hours IST : Falling GDP growth expectations move Nifty, bank steady

The Sensex added more than 100 points just before advanced GDP data was announced, but it could not sustain the gains for long. The market turned back to the choppy movements after the government data indicated a gloomy GDP outlook.

The BSE benchmark climbed just 43 points to 17,750.40 and the NSE benchmark rose 11.5 points to 5,373.10.

Advance gross domestic product (GDP) for financial year 2011-12 came in at 6.9% as against 8.4% in the previous year, which was lower than expected. CNBC-TV18 poll saw it at 7.1%.

During the year, growth in construction, manufacturing and agriculture was lower as compared to previous year. However, mining growth was in negative due to ban in some major mines in 2011.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries continued to support the market, gaining over 2%. Private banks like ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank climbed more than a percent while SBI rose just 0.4%.

Shares of ITC, TCS, Hero Motocorp, Tata Motors, Wipro, Hindalco and Coal India gained 0.4-1.3%.

However, HUL, Bharti Airtel and Sun Pharma tumbled 2% each; GAIL and M&M were down over 1.5%. NTPC and BHEL dropped 1%. HDFC was down 0.5%.

The market breadth was neutral and even the broader markets were flat.

In the second line shares, Puravankara Project, Central Bank of India, South Indian Bank, DB Realty and Syndicate Bank moved up 5-12%. However, Manappuram Finance tanked 12%. Zydus Wellness, India Infoline, KSK Energy Ventures and Muthoot Finance slipped 4-6%.