Sensex closes flat; Tata group stocks fall for 2nd day

The NSE Nifty closed lower for the fifth consecutive session on Tuesday, weighed down by capital goods, oil & gas, steel, auto and power stocks. The market opened the trade with more than 100 points gap up following positive Asian cues, but that could not sustain for long as traders opted to book profits (amid monsoon worries) in second half of trade.

The BSE benchmark rose 1.99 points to close at 17,105.30 while the NSE benchmark declined 4.4 points to 5,192.85. But the broader markets fell more than benchmarks - BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were down over 0.8%.

Tata group stocks slipped for the second consecutive session. Country's largest software services exporter TCS tanked 2% and top commercial vehicle maker Tata Motors was down 1.5%. Tata Steel and Tata Power went down 0.7% each.

Two-wheeler manufacturer Bajaj Auto topped the selling list, losing 2.43% (ahead of earnings tomorrow) and utility vehicle maker Mahindra & Mahindra was down 1.66%.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries went down after the company warned the government that output at KG D6 may stop by 2015 if fresh capex was not announced, according to sources.

State-owned oil & gas producer ONGC fell 1.3%. Power equipment manufacturer BHEL dropped 1.6% and engineering and construction major by sales Larsen & Toubro slipped 0.4%.

Among metals and mining stocks, Sterlite Industries and Jindal Steel plummeted around 0.8% whereas Hindalco rose 1% and Coal India gained 0.8%.

Top telecom operator Bharti Airtel trimmed gains to 0.4% from around 3% due to profit booking. Yesterday the stock had rallied 4%.

Software services exporter Wipro rose nearly 2% while its rival Infosys was flat.

Axis Bank fell 2% on rising non-performing assets during the first quarter. Its net profit rose more than 22% year-on-year to Rs 1,150 crore, boosted by a robust loan book that grew nearly 30% y-o-y to Rs 1.71 lakh crore. However, the lender's net non-performing asset (NPA) ratio increased to 0.31% from 0.25% in January-March quarter. Similarly, gross NPA ratio too rose to 1.06% as against 0.94% sequentially.

Country's largest lenders State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank closed flat.

Healthcare stocks like Dr Reddy's Labs and Sun Pharma gained 1.7% and 1.3%, respectively. Cigarette major ITC went up 1.55%.

In the second line shares, Cadila Healthcare surged nearly 5% after the US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) gave a clearance to the company's facilities at Moraiya in Gujarat. Cadila Healthcare.

Hercules Hoists rallied 12% ahead of earnings. Crompton Greaves, United Spirits and Mahindra Satyam were up 1-1.7%.

However, Adani Enterprises, Adani Power, Shree Renuka, Bajaj Hindusthan and Indiabulls Real Estate were down 3-8%.

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group stocks like Reliance Infrastructure, Reliance Power and Reliance Communications tanked 2-3.5%.

About two shares declined for every share advancing on the National Stock Exchange.

On the global front, US stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street today (gained 66 points) as investors speculated Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke may give fresh clues about further stimulus measures after a series of weak economic reports pointed to a slowdown in the economy. (With inputs from CNBC.com)

Among Asian markets, Shanghai, Nikkei, Kospi, Straits Times and Taiwan Weighted went up 0.2-0.6% while Hang Seng rallied 1.75%. European markets were mixed.