Sensex volatile; TCS, NTPC, Sun Pharma, JSPL gain

At 11 hours IST - equity benchmarks were trading with moderate losses on the back of fall in oil & gas, financial and telecom companies' shares. ITC, Tata Motors, Sterlite, SAIL, Maruti and Tata Power were also under pressure. The Nifty has been in a range of 5650-5700.

However, indices were getting support from technology, cement and select metal companies' shares along with NTPC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, L&T and Hero Honda, which wiped out some losses. Overall indices were witnessing some volatility. Naresh Kothari president of Edelweiss Capital expects this trend to continue in the first half of this calendar year. The 30-share BSE Sensex was trading at 18,896, with loss of 82 points and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 22 points to 5,668. Among frontliners, TCS, Jindal Steel, NTPC, Hero Honda, Wipro, Sun Pharma and Kotak Mahindra Bank were up 0.5-2%. However, Tata Motors, Sterlite Industries, SBI, Maruti Suzuki, ONGC, GAIL, HCL Tech and Bajaj Auto were down 1.5-2.5%. Tata Coffee, SKS Microfinance, Orchid Chemical, LIC Housing Finance, Reliance Industries and SBI were most active shares on exchanges. In midcap space, SKS Microfinance shot up 7.85% as the company said Malegam report would bring structural clarity to industry. "No regulatory gap seen in microfinance industry and clarity on funding arrangement with baking sector is big positive," company said. M&M Financial, Blue Dart, Jubilant Foodworks and Orchid Chemical gained 3.7-5.6%. However, HCL Info, Kirloskar Oil, Simplex Infra, Sterling International and Torrent Pharma lost 2.5-4.5%. In smallcap space, Riddhi Siddhi, Lloyds Steel, Indo Rama, Tata Coffee and Marathon Nextgen surged 5.7-8% while Shree Ram Urban, India Securities, Splash Media and Parrys Sugar slipped 5%. Breadth was mildly in favour of declines; about 1049 shares advanced as against 1159 shares declined on Bombay Stock Exchange. On the global front, Asian markets remained under selling pressure. Shanghai, Hang Seng and Nikkei fell 1.25-1.9%. Straits Times, Kospi and Taiwan lost 0.3-0.66%. _PAGEBREAK_ Nifty tests 5650 on weak Asian cues; RIL, SBI, Bharti slip The benchmark Nifty slipped in opening trade following downward trend in Asian markets. Index has tested 5650 level in early trade, led by fall in telecom (Mobile number portability launched today), financial, oil & gas and metal companies' shares. Among frontliners, Reliance Communications, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, Sesa Goa, Jindal Steel & Power, Sterlite Industries, Reliance Capital, Jaiprakash Associates, HCL Tech, Reliance Industries, SAIL, SBI, ICICI Bank and PNB were witnessing selling pressure. However, Kotak Mahindra Bank (ahead of numbers today), Bajaj Auto, Wipro (ahead of numbers tomorrow), Hero Honda and M&M gained. At 9:17 hours IST, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading at 18,841, down 137 points and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 43 points to 5,647.  The CNX Midcap lost 42 points to 8,130 and BSE Smallcap declined 34 points to 8,867. The Nifty Junior slipped 61 points at 11,265. About 168 shares advanced as against 536 shares declined on National Stock Exchange. New listing - C Mahendra Exports was trading at Rs 118, with a premium of 7% over issue price. Midcap & Smallcap space: Results reaction: Orchid Chemical was up 0.5% and Uflex up 1.5% while LIC Housing Finance fell 1.4%. YES Bank was up 0.6% and TVS Motor up 2% ahead of numbers today. KRBL was down 4% and Orient Green down 3.4%. Zee Entertainment, Canara Bank, Jet Airways, Bajaj Hindusthan and Hindustan Motors were down 1.5-2.5%. Peninsula Land tanked 4%. Global cues: Asian markets were trading lower. Shanghai, Hang Seng and Nikkei fell one percent each. Straits Times, Kospi and Taiwan were down 0.2-0.7%. _PAGEBREAK_ The S&P 500 and Nasdaq witnessed worst single-session losses in almost two months post poor numbers from Goldman Sachs and fall in US housing starts hurt sentiment. But Dow Jones finished flat amid support from IBM. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 13 points at 11,825. The Nasdaq Composite was down 40 points at 2,725 and S&P 500 Index down 13 points at 1,282. Commodities February natural gas contract was up 2.7% to USD 4.55 per MMBtu February crude oil contract was down 0.6% at USD 90.86/bbl February gold contract was up 0.1% at USD 1370.20 per ounce March silver contract fell 0.1% at USD 28.80 per ounce F&O cues: Total Nifty futures up Rs 862 crore, Options up Rs 792 crore Stock futures net add 1.6 cr shares in Open Int Nifty Fut Open Int net add 7.9 lakh shares in Open Int; Nifty futures discount at 2 pts versus 9 pts prem Nifty Open Int PCR down at 0.88 versus 0.89 Nifty Put shed 53k shares in Open Int, Call add 13.3 shares in Open Int Highest OI outstanding on call side at 6200 call, 6000 call, 5700 call, 5600 Put Nifty Jan 5500 Put add 9 lakh shares in Open Int Nifty Jan 5700 Call add 5.6 lakh shares in Open Int Nifty Feb 5800 Call add 5.5 lakh shares in Open Int Nifty Feb 5400 Put add 4.8 lakh shares in Open Int Nifty Feb 5900 Call adds 4.2 lakh shares in Open Int Nifty Jan 5800 Put shed 6.9 lakh shares in Open Int Nifty Jan 5700 Put shed 5 lakh shares in Open Int Nifty Jan 5400 Put shed 3.8 lakh shares in Open Int