Sensex lacklustre; midcaps, smallcaps outperform

Indian equity benchmarks remained flat since early trade as the gains in HDFC, HDFC Bank, Bharti and metals stocks counterbalanced the fall in ICICI Bank, L&T, SBI, TCS and Reliance Industries.

The broader markets outperformed benchmarks. The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 8.5 points to 17,758.14 and the 50-share NSE Nifty went up 3.2 points to 5,361.90 while the BSE Midcap Index was up 0.4% and Smallcap Index moved up 0.6%.

Country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank dropped 0.7% while its rival State Bank of India fell 1.15%. However, HDFC Bank and HDFC gained 0.6% and 1.4%, respectively.

Software services exporter Infosys reversed its early gains; its rivals TCS and Wipro were down more than 0.6%.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries, engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro and commercial vehicle major Tata Motors were marginally down.

FMCG major Hindustan Unilever declined 1%. Shares of Jindal Steel and BHEL tanked 1.5% each.

Top telecom operator Bharti Airtel extended gains to 1.8%. Drug producer Sun Pharma topped the buying list with 2% gains.

Among metals and mining stocks, Tata Steel, Hindalco Industries and Coal India gained more than 1.5%. State-owned ONGC and GAIL rose over 0.5%.

In the second line shares, Jyothy Labs, Jubilant Life, Muthoot Finance, Shree Global and Pantaloon Retail rallied 5-10% whereas National Fertilisers, Prism Cement, Allcargo, Elantas Beck and HT Media slipped 2.4-3%.