Sensex, Nifty volatile; BoB dives, Vedanta & Hindalco rally

Moneycontrol Bureau12:55 pm Market Update: Equity benchmarks remained flat. The Sensex declined 1.23 points to 27078.28 while the Nifty rose 1.20 points to 8190.90.About 1342 shares have advanced, 1118 shares declined, and 109 shares are unchanged on the BSE.12:45 pm Europe opens: European equities opened to mixed trade today, bucking the positive trend set in Asia as investors tread cautiously after a strong week of gains.

London's FTSE 100 was off by 0.1 percent, the German DAX was up 0.4 percent, while the French CAC was flat.

Equity markets in China led gains in Asia today, amid expectations that Beijing will roll out further stimulus measures to ward off a sharper slowdown in the world's second-largest economy.

The government will convene later this month to discuss the 13th five-year plan and investors seem excited about the prospects of stimulus, noted analysts at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch.12:40 pm Expert on Infosys earnings: Commenting on Infosys stellar second quarter numbers, Moshe Katri, IT industry analyst said market should focus on the long-term strategy of the company because the management seems to be firing on all cylinders to get the growth rates back on track. Katri is confident of the company meeting the FY16 constant currency guidance of 10-12 percent and match industry growth. When the company is going through a transformation lot of things happen but the management is executing on all fronts to get the company back on track, so the long-term prospect of the stock remains bullish, said Katri.According to him, Vishal Sikka the CEO and MD of the company is doing all the things he spoke of.12:20 pm CPI, IIP estimates: The index of industrial production (IIP) for the month of August is seen rising to 5 percent versus 4.2 percent seen in the month of July. According to CNBC-TV18 poll the range will be between 4 to 6.7 percent.Revision in the June IIP number is likely to be revised higher to 4.4 percent versus 3.8 percent. There will be a favourable base which will impact IIP and it is expected to impact IIP all the way to November. Meanwhile, the September Consumer Price Index (CPI) is seen at 4.49 percent versus 3.66 percent recorded in the month of August. According to CNBC-TV18 poll, the CPI range will be between 3.9 to 5 percent.The core inflation is likely to come around 4.2 to 4.3 percent versus 4.13 percent.The reason for the hardening in CPI is primarily because of the favourable base impact declining as expected.Also read - FII flows could drive Nifty, Sensex higher: Dipan Mehta12:00 pm Market Check

The market remained rangebound after a rally in opening trade. Technology stocks were under pressure post Infosys earnings while metals, banks, capital goods and select auto stocks provided some support.

The Sensex fell 36.07 points to 27043.44 and the Nifty declined 7.35 points to 8182.35. However, the broader markets outperformed benchmarks; the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained more than 0.3 percent. The market breadth was also positive as about 1288 shares advanced against 1085 declining shares.

Infosys slipped 2.5 percent on profit taking. The IT company has reported dollar revenue growth of 6 percent, the highest in 16 quarters. It has maintained its FY16 revenue guidance in constant currency terms. Vishal Sikka, MD & CEO said second half of the financial year will be challenging due to seasonality and client specific issues.

Bank of Baroda topped the selling list on Nifty, down 4 percent as the CBI carried out searches at a bank's branch in connection with alleged Rs 6,000 crore black money transfer. The bank does not foresee any financial loss on account of these raids.

HDFC, TCS, Lupin, HUL and Cipla declined 1-2 percent while Vedanta and Hindalco were biggest gainers on Sensex, up 9 percent and 6 percent, respectively. Tata Motors, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, ONGC, Tata Steel and GAIL gained 1-2.5 percent.