Nifty in tight range; Jindal Steel, Sterlite rally 4%

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty were consistently moving around their previous closing values. The market has been consolidating for third consecutive session today due to lack of domestic and global cues.

The BSE benchmark was down 2.73 points to 17,423 and the NSE benchmark was flat at 5,288. However, European markets were down 0.4-0.6%.

Country's largest lender State Bank of India climbed 1.76% and top telecom operator Bharti Airtel rose 1.5%.

Metals stocks remained strong - Jindal Steel & Power surged 4% and Sterlite Industries jumped 3.6%. Tata Steel and Hindalco Industries were up 1-1.5% while Sesa Goa rallied nearly 3%.

Among auto stocks, top car maker Maruti Suzuki advanced over 2% and utility vehicle major Mahindra & Mahindra was up 1%. Two-wheeler majors Hero Motocorp and Bajaj Auto gained 0.7% and 1.5%, respectively whereas Tata Motors declined 0.4%.

However, state-owned oil & gas producer ONGC tanked 2% and index heavyweight Reliance Industries slipped 0.5%.

Software services exporter Infosys fell 0.9% while its rival Wipro plunged nearly 2%. FMCG majors ITC and HUL were down 0.6-1%.

The broader markets continued to outperform benchmarks, rising more than 0.5%. Advancing shares outnumbered declining by 1527 to 1146 on the BSE.

In the second line shares, Whirlpool, StanChart IDR, Blue Star, Sterlite Tech and Hathway Cable surged 8-9% whereas Allcargo, Bajaj Electricals, City Union Bank, India Cements and S Mobility dropped 2-3%.