Nifty in tight range; ADAG, auto, telecom up

Equity benchmarks were lacklustre in trade and were moving in a narrow range ahead of expiry tomorrow and budget next week at 10:51 hours. The Nifty was in a range of 5460-5490 since early trade.

Rakesh Arora of Macquarie feels that the markets will consolidate at these levels before making an upward move in the second half of the year. "Earnings downgrades, along with dented market sentiment, have brought about a good correction in the market post which valuations look a lot more reasonable at 14.5x on FY12e," he said.

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG), telecom, auto, metal, select power and healthcare companies' shares were supporting the markets. HDFC, Reliance Industries and L&T too were on buyers' radar.

However, the sell-off in BHEL, SBI, ICICI Bank, HUL, Ranbaxy Labs, ITC, Infosys, Wipro, TCS and JSPL has limited those gains.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was trading at 18,306, up 10 points and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 4 points to 5,473. About 694 shares advanced as against 497 shares declined on National Stock Exchange.

ADAG companies' shares like Reliance Capital, Reliance Power and Reliance Communications were up 1.5-3%. Reliance Infrastructure was the top gainer on Nifty with 8% gain.

Tata Motors, Hero Honda and Maruti Suzuki from auto pack moved up 1-1.5%. Bharti Airtel from telecom space rose over one percent.

Among frontliners, HDFC, Sterlite Industries and Tata Motors were up 1.5-3%. However, Infosys, SBI, Wipro, TCS, BHEL, Ranbaxy Labs, IDFC and BPCL slipped 1-3%.

In midcap space, Man Infra surged 15% as company is in pact with Turkish Co STFA for port, marine construction in India.

State Bank of Bikaner, State Bank of Mysore, Bajaj Finserv and Gammon India (bagged orders worth Rs 1947 crore) rallied 7-14%.

However, Radico Khaitan plunged 5.64% as the company made alleged disclosure of Rs 100 crore during I-T raids, according to sources. NV Distilleries also raided by I-T department authorities, say sources.

Andhra Bank, Money Matters, Punj Lloyd and Info Edge fell 2-3%.

In smallcap space, Graviss Hosp, Geodesic, Zenith Infotech, Bhansali Engg and Kama Holdings gained 6-9% while India Securities, Shree Nath Comm, Parrys Sugar, Sujana Towers and Symphony lost 4-5%.

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Nifty flat; HDFC, Sterlite gain, Infy, TCS dip

The benchmark Nifty was quiet in opening trade following mixed Asian cues. Indices were hovering around the previous closing values and awaiting for next triggers like expiry tomorrow and budget next week. It seems that markets already discounted rise in crude oil prices due to geopolitical tensions in Libya and Middle east.

Among frontliners, Ranbaxy Labs, BPCL, Infosys, Axis Bank, SBI, ICICI Bank, HCL Tech, Tata Steel, Sesa Goa and TCS were witnessing selling pressure.

However, Sun Pharma, ACC, Ambuja Cements, HDFC, ONGC, Tata Motors, Maruti and Reliance Industries were supporting the markets.

At 9:17 hours IST, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading at 18,281, down 15 points and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell just 2 points to 5,467. The CNX Midcap too lost 27 points to 7,636.

About 351 shares advanced as against 483 shares declined on National Stock Exchange.

Midcap & Smallcap space:

Allied Digital, Zee Learn, Aptech and NIIT gained 2-3%.

MTNL surged 4% and Tata Communications was up 3%.

Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, TVS Motor and Petronet LNG were down 1-2%.

Global cues:

Asian markets were mixed in trade. Shanghai, Hang Seng and Kospi were marginally in green while Nikkei, Straits Times and Hang Seng fell 0.2-0.7%.

The US markets posted worst single-session loss in six months (opened after 1-day holiday) on back of geopolitical tension in Libya and Middle East.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 178 points at 12,213. The Nasdaq Composite was down 77 points at 2,756 and the S&P 500 Index fell 27 points at 1,315.

Commodities

April crude oil surged 6% at USD 95.32/barrel, gained nearly 15% in last 2 days

March natural gas was down 0.1% at USD 3.87 per MMBtu

April gold was up 0.9% at USD 1401.1/ounce

Silver went up 2% at USD 32.86/ounce - set a new 30-year high above USD 34 per ounce in the early morning

Grains fell 5.4%, May wheat was down 7%, May soybeans down 5.1% and May corn down 4.2%.

F&O cues:

Total Nifty futures down Rs 1119 crore, Options up Rs 1005 crore

Stock futures net add 20 lakh shares in Open Int

Nifty Fut Open Int net shed 3.2 lakh shares in OI; Nifty futures flat versus 10 pts prem

Nifty Open Int PCR down at 1.21 versus 1.24

Nifty Put add 25k shares, Call add 16.2 lakh shares in Open Int

Highest Open Int outstanding at 5400 Put, 5300 put, 5600 call

Nifty 5500 Call adds 9.5 lakh shares (13%) in Open Int; prem down from 40 to 29

Nifty Mar 5300 Put add 7.9 lakh shares (28%) in Open Int, prem up from 90 to 102

Nifty Mar 5000 Put add 4.5 lakh shares (15%) in Open Int

Nifty Mar 5400 Put add 3 lakh shares (7%) in Open Int

Nifty Mar 5200 Put add 2.8 lakh shares (8%) in Open Int

Nifty 5400 Put shed 6.5 lakh shares (6%) in Open Int

Nifty 5500 Put shed 5.8 lakh shares (8%) in Open Int

Nifty 5600 Put shed 3.7 lakh shares (15%) in Open Int

Nifty 5200 Put shed 3.13 lakh shares (5%) in Open Int