Sensex, Nifty open flat; capital goods, metals gain

Markets across globe are waiting for the outcome of Federal Reserve statement that will be announced around 23 hours IST; base case scenario appears to be an extension of operation Twist.

Jan Hatzius of Goldman Sachs expects the Fed to ease monetary policy on June 20, in response to the weak economic data and increased downside risks from Europe. However, the form of easing is a closer call. We expect a new asset purchase program, but an extension of Operation Twist is also possible, he quickly says.

Shares of L&T, BHEL and Reliance Infrastructure gained around 1.5% after Mint reported that PMO called meeting on duty of power equipment today.

ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, Sterlite, Sesa Goa, JSPL, Tata Motors, ONGC, HDFC Bank, M&M, HUL, GAIL, Dr Reddy's Labs, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma and Tata Power were supporting the market.

However, Maruti, ITC, TCS, Reliance Industries, Infosys and Bajaj Auto were marginally lower.

ACC and Ambuja Cements tanked nearly 4% ahead of final report on cartelisation by CCI today. Sources indicated that CCI slapped with penalty of 8% of average turnover of 3 years on cement companies.

Among other cement stocks, Grasim was down 1%. India Cements tanked 3.5% and Ultratech Cement slipped 2.6%.

The CNX Midcap Index moved up 24 points to 6,994. About two shares advanced for every share declining on the National Stock Exchange.

Educomp Solutions surged 3% as the company tied up for USD 155 million to pay off FCCBs of USD 78.5 million on due date.

Kingfisher Airlines and UB Holdings were up 1% each.

Den Networks rose 3% and Hathway Cable advanced 1.5% after The Financial Express reported that Den Networks, Hathway, InCable and WWIL have put in bids to merge with rival DigiCable India.

Uttam Galva shot up 5% and Kalyani Steel gained 7%.

However, Apollo Tyres fell 2%.