Sensex, Nifty listless; SBI, Cipla most active

Indian shares remained in a consolidation mode in afternoon trade while broader markets continued to outperform benchmarks. On the National Stock Exchange, advancers outnumbered decliners by 921 to 471.

FMCG, capital goods and healthcare stocks were supporting the market whereas metals, private banks and technology stocks were under pressure.

The 30-share BSE benchmark moved up 29.45 points to 17,265.63 and the 50-share NSE benchmark rose 10.40 points to 5,239.40.

Among banking and financials stocks, housing finance company HDFC and country's largest lender State Bank of India gained nearly 1.5% whereas private sector lenders HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank were marginally lower.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries went up 0.9% while state-owned oil & gas producer ONGC was down nearly 1%.

Drug producer Cipla rallied nearly 4% after better than expected numbers in first quarter of FY13.

Engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro rose 0.6% and state-owned power equipment manufacturer BHEL surged 2%.

Top commercial vehicle maker Tata Motors climbed 0.9% as the company's total sales jumped 15% year-on-year to 74,159 units in July.

Technology majors TCS, Infosys and Wipro declined 0.5-1%. Top telecom operator Bharti Airtel was down 0.65%.

Coal India, country's largest coal mining company tanked over 3% after the company has agreed to supply at least 80% of the coal needed to fuel new power projects.

Most active shares on exchanges were SBI, Orissa Minerals, United Spirits, Cipla, Amar Remedies, ICICI Bank, Tata Motors and Reliance Industries.

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At 12:39 hours IST: Nifty in narrow range; midcaps, smallcaps outperform

The 50-share NSE Nifty remained in a narrow range of 5215-5240 since early trade due to lack of global and local cues. The market is waiting for some actions on reforms from new finance minister P Chidambaram, and outcome of Federal Reserve's meeting (that will end today) and European Central Bank's meeting (that scheduled for Thursday).

The BSE benchmark gained 18.51 points at 17,254.69 and the NSE benchmark rose 5.3 points to 5,234.30. However, the broader markets outperformed benchmarks - BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were up over 0.8%.

Country's largest lender State Bank of India rallied 1.66% while its rivals HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank were down 0.6% and 0.2%, respectively.

Drug producer Cipla shot up 4.5% due to higher than expected numbers in the quarter ended June 2012.

FMCG major Hindustan Unilever, housing finance company HDFC, India's second largest two-wheeler maker Bajaj Auto and private power producer Tata Power rallied 1%
each.

Index heavyweights Reliance Industries and ITC moved up marginally.

Engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro and state-owned power equipment manufacturer BHEL went up 0.44% and 1.65%, respectively.

Country's largest software services exporters TCS, Infosys and Wipro were down between 0.6% and 0.9%.

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel, state-owned oil & gas producer, two-wheeler major Hero Motocorp and top car maker Maruti Suzuki declined 1% each.

Coal India, one of the world's largest coal mining company remained down more than 3% after the board members yesterday agreed to supply at least 80% of the coal needed to fuel new power projects, a condition set by the government, but stipulated it could use a mix of 15% imported coal versus 65% domestic.

In the second line shares, Dewan Housing, HT Media, Bayer Cropscience, Delta Corp and Anant Raj Industries gained 5-8% while Glodyne Tech, Voltas, Schneider Electric, Godfrey Phillip and Tulip Telecom slipped 2-5%.

At 11:34 hours IST: Nifty, Sensex lacklustre; Coal India top loser

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty were completely lacklustre in trade as they were moving just around their previous closing values. The market needs a fresh trigger to take three-day rally further - the trigger may be in the form of reforms by the Indian government and globally it may be outcome of European Central Bank and Federal Reserve's meet.

The BSE benchmark was down 0.5 points to 17,235.68 and the NSE benchmark was flat at 5,228.50, but the broader markets outperformed benchmarks. The BSE Midcap Index rose 0.8% and Smallcap gained 1%.

Drug producer Cipla trimmed gains to 4% from 6.5% due to profit booking. The stock reacted to the strong results, wherein the profit after tax rose by 58% year-on-year to Rs 401 crore in the quarter ended June 2012.

Housing finance company HDFC, engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro and country's largest lender State Bank of India moved up around 1%.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries and top commercial vehicle maker Tata Motors gained 0.4% and 0.6%, respectively.

State-owned power equipment manufacturer BHEL went up over 1.5% while private power producer Tata Power was up 1%.

Shares of HDFC Bank, Infosys, TCS, ONGC, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, Hero Motocorp, Maruti and Wipro were down 0.65%-1%.

Coal India, country's largest coal mining company tanked more than 3% as the company has agreed to supply at least 80% of the coal needed to fuel new power projects, a condition set by the government, but stipulated it could use a mix of 15% imported coal versus 65% domestic. It, however, deferred a decision on penalties the company will pay in case it does not meet the supply guarantees, company officials said on Tuesday.

In the second line shares, S Mobility, Dewan Housing, Delta Corp, Bayer Cropscience and Anant Raj Industries rallied 4-7%.

Among smallcaps, Symphony shot up 20%. Dishman Pharma, SKS Microfinance, MT Educare and Disa India were up 6-8.5%.

About two shares advanced for every share declining on the National Stock Exchange.

At 10:22 hours IST: Choppy Sensex flat; IT, private banks stocks decline

Indian shares fell marginally amid volatility due to profit booking in private banks, technology and FMCG stocks. However, the buying interest in Cipla, SBI, HDFC and Tata Motors has capped the downside.

The BSE benchmark declined 44.56 points to 17,191.62 and the NSE benchmark slipped 15 points to 5,214.10.

Country's largest private sector lenders ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank were down 0.35% and 1.55%, respectively while their rival State Bank of India rose 0.8%.

Top car maker Maruti Suzuki was flat, even after the company's total sales rose 9.2% year-on-year to 82,234 units in July. Ahead of July sales numbers, Hero Motocorp and M&M went down 0.7% whereas top commercial vehicle maker gained 0.6%. Bajaj Auto rallied 1.6%.

Technology majors TCS, Infosys and Wipro went down 0.7%-1%. FMCG majors ITC and HUL declined 0.3% each.

Country's largest coal mining company Coal India tanked 3% after the company has agreed to supply at least 80% of the coal needed to fuel new power projects, a condition set by the government, but stipulated it could use a mix of 15% imported coal versus 65% domestic. It, however, deferred a decision on penalties the company will pay in case it does not meet the supply guarantees, company officials said on Tuesday.

Top telecom operator Bharti Airtel and state-owned oil & gas producer ONGC moved down 0.7%.

Cipla topped the buying list, rising more than 5% after the net profit in the June quarter spiked 58% year-on-year to Rs 401 crore. Housing finance company HDFC gained 0.8%.

State-owned power equipment manufacturer BHEL, and power producers NTPC and Tata Power were up 0.7%-1.3%.

About two shares advanced for every share declining on the National Stock Exchange.

At 9:20 hours IST: Sensex, Nifty flat; Cipla shoots up 6% after Q1 nos

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty started off trade on a flat note on Wednesday as it seemed to have entered into consolidation mode after a rally in previous three sessions.

The market seems still hopeful for some form of action in terms of reforms or diesel price after the Cabinet reshuffle. P Chidambaram will be new Finance Minister and Sushil Kumar Shinde will become new Home Minister. Veerappa Moily will hold additional charge of power.

The BSE benchmark moved up 7.35 points to 17,243.53 and the NSE benchmark was up 0.60 points at 5,229.60.

Asian markets were mixed ahead of outcome of Federal Reserve' meeting (that will be ending today) and European Central Bank's meet that will begin on Thursday. Shanghai rose 1% after HSBC final manufacturing PMI for July increased to 49.3 as against 48.2 in previous month.

Nikkei was down 1% while Hang Seng, Kospi, Straits Times and Taiwan Weighted were flat.

Back home, drug producer Cipla shot up more than 6% after stronger than expected numbers in the first quarter of FY13. Its net profit jumped 58% YoY to Rs 401 crore.

Bharti, Bank of Baroda, Kotak Mahindra Bank, SBI, Ambuja Cements, Dr Reddy's Labs and Ranbaxy Labs were on buyers' radar.

However, Coal India went down 1% after the company agreed to supply at least 80% of the coal needed to fuel new power projects, a condition set by the government, but stipulated it could use a mix of 15% imported coal versus 65% domestic.

Tata Power, SAIL, Sterlite, Hindalco, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, Tata Motors, ITC and L&T were under pressure in early trade.

The CNX Midcap Index rose just 10 points to 7,179. The market breadth was neutral.

In the second line shares, Unitech fell 1.4% after Uninor decided to auction its business of mobile services and issued public auction notice with August 6 deadline.

Voltas dropped 3% ahead of first quarter numbers today.

After results announced yesterday, IDBI Bank, HOEC, Bhushan Steel and Elecon Engineering were down 1-2.5%. However, Delta Corp gained 2%.

OnMobile Global gained 1.6% after the company doubled its profit to Rs 9.5 crore in the quarter ended June 2012 YoY.

Dishman Pharma shot up 6%. Sun TV Network added another 2% to yesterday's rally.

Godrej Properties went up 2% as the company is going to develop 1.85 lakh sqft Ghatkopar Township.

Petronet LNG was up 1%. Manappuram Finance rose 3% ahead of Q1 numbers today.