Nifty choppy after 2-day rally; RIL, Infy gain

The benchmark Nifty was flat with a positive bias in opening trade amid a choppy trade. The index was consolidating at around previous closing value after a rally seen in previous two days.

Equities are likely to be the best performing asset in the coming decade, says Ridham Desai of Morgan Stanley. "We expect the Sensex to deliver annual returns of 15.3% over the next 10 years. Our view is that the risk-reward ratio for Indian equities will make it the most attractive asset class in the coming decade. We believe that Indian equity returns are likely to be less volatile in the coming decade than in the previous 10 years," he explained.

Among frontliners, ACC, Ambuja Cements, Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto, GAIL, Tata Steel (ahead of numbers), L&T and BHEL were on buyers' radar.

However, Reliance Communications, M&M, HDFC, Jaiprakash Associates, Dr Reddy's Labs, ONGC, Infosys, TCS, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications were witnessing selling pressure.

At 9:17 hours IST, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading at 18,266, up 65 points and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 14 points to 5,470.

The CNX Midcap went up 11 points to 7,727 and the Nifty Junior gained 24 points at 10,823. About 638 shares advanced as against 253 shares declined on National Stock Exchange.

Midcap & Smallcap space:

Results reaction: Amtek Auto was up 3% while Ispat, Jubilant Life, Deccan Chronicle and Unitech lost 2-4%.

Escorts rose 3% and TVS Motors was up 0.8%. IOB gained 5%.

Reliance Broadcast and Videocon Industries were up 2.5% each.

However, Sun TV lost 3%. HDIL, Reliance Capital and Ashok Leyland fell 0.5%.

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Asian markets were mixed in trade. Shanghai, Kospi and Taiwan were up 0.6% each. Nikkei rose just 0.3% while Hang Seng was down 0.2% and Straits Times down 0.6%.

The US markets ended flat on absence of any economic news. Resources stocks gained post the end of the political standoff in Egypt.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 5 points at 12,268. The Nasdaq Composite was up 8 points at 2,817 and S&P 500 index rose 3 points at 1,332.

Commodities

March crude oil contract was down 0.9% at USD 84.81/barrel, lowest levels in 2 months

March natural gas was up 0.5% to USD 3.93 per MMBtu

March copper went up 2% to USD 4.63 per pound

March silver was up 1.8% at USD 30.53/ounce

April gold was up 0.3% to USD 1365.1/ounce

F&O cues:

Total Nifty futures up Rs 1278 crore, Options up Rs 1877 crore

Stock futures net shed 1 crore shares in Open Int

Nifty Fut Open Int shed 3.3 lakh shares in Open Int; Nifty futures premium flat versus 8 pts prem

Nifty Open Int PCR up at 1.14 versus 1.03

Nifty Put add 58 lakh shares, Call shed 26.5 lakh shares in Open Int

Highest Open Int outstanding at 5400 Put (from 5100 Put), 5300 Put (from 5200 Put), 5600 call (from 5400 call)

Nifty 5400 Put adds 37.2 lakh shares (66%) in Open Int; prem down up from 111 to 45

Nifty 5300 Put add 22.2 lakh shares (41%) in Open Int, prem down from 61 to 22

Nifty 5500 Put add 20 lakh shares (68%) in Open Int, prem down from 165 to 87

Nifty 5600 Call add 12.9 lakh shares (23%) in Open Int, prem up from 10 to 17.7

Nifty 5100 Put shed 17.3 lakh shares (23%) in Open Int

Nifty 5200 Call shed 16 lakh shares (37%) in Open Int

Nifty 5300 Call shed 13.9 lakh shares (25%) in Open Int

Nifty 5400 Call shed 12.9 lakh shares (20%) in Open Int