Nifty volatile; HDFC Bank, L&T, BHEL, SBI, Hero Honda dip

The benchmark Nifty started the session on a flat note on lack of global cues. The index was quite volatile in trade and was near to its previous closing value. Overall it was a consolidation after a fall in previous two days due to rate sensitives. 

Among frontliners, HDFC Bank, PNB, SBI, M&M, Maruti Suzuki, Hero Honda, Ambuja Cements, ACC, Sesa Goa, JSPL, Sterlite Industries, BHEL and L&T were witnessing selling pressure.

However, indices were getting support from TCS, Wipro, Bajaj Auto, Suzlon Energy, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Sun Pharma, ITC, HUL and NTPC.

At 9:17 hours IST, the 50-share NSE Nifty was trading at 6,036, down 12 points and the 30-share BSE Sensex was at 20,161, down 23 points. 

The CNX Midcap fell 13 points to 8,673 and the Nifty Junior lost 37 points to 11,836. About 304 shares advanced as against 385 shares declined on NSE.

Midcap & Smallcap space:

Godrej Consumer rose 2% as Chairman of Godrej group Adi Godrej said company would hike product prices on higher raw material costs.

Hindustan Copper was up 2% as company's follow-on public offer (FPO) is unlikely this fiscal, said Finance Ministry sources.

Orient Paper rallied 4%. Aptech, KPIT Cummins and Patni were marginally in green.

Nagarjuna Fertiliser, Chambal Fertiliser and RCF bounced back.

ITI jumped 4.5%.

However, Ashok Leyland was down 1.5% and Yes Bank down 2%.

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Global cues:

Asian markets were mixed in trade. Shanghai rose 1.4% while Taiwan was down 1% and Straits Times down 0.35%. Others were flat.

The US markets continued to consolidate amid uninspiring economic data on Thursday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 26 points at 11,697. The Nasdaq Composite rose 8 points at 2710 while the S&P 500 Index fell 3 points at 1274.

Commodities

Sugar futures fell 6.1% at USD 0.3024 per pound

February crude oil contract shed 2.1% at USD 88.38/barrel on Thursday; were down sharply for last 2 days

Crude oil has lost over 4% since 2-year high

February natural gas was down 1.1% at USD 4.43 per MMBtu

February gold contract went down by USD 2 to USD 1371.7/ounce; declined for a fourth consecutive session

Silver was down 7.2 cents at USD 29.13/ounce

Baltic Dry Index was down 4.7%

F&O cues:

Total Nifty Futures was up Rs 166 crore

Total Options was up Rs 5213 crore

Stock Futures net adds 2 cr shares in Open Int

Nifty Fut Open Int net adds 2 lakh shares in Open Int

Nifty Futures prem unchanged at 24 pts

Nifty Open Int PCR down at 1.25 versus 1.31

Nifty Puts add 28.4 lk shares in Open Int

Nifty Calls add 46.5 lakh shares in Open Int

Highest Open Int outstanding at 6200 Call, 6000 Put

Nifty 6100 Call adds 19.3 lakh shares in Open Int

Nifty 6100 Call: Prem down from 107 to 79

Nifty 6200 Call adds 10.8 lakh shares in Open Int

Nifty 6200 Call: Prem down from 60 to 41

Nifty Feb 5600 Put adds 5.2 lakh shares in Open Int

Nifty 5900 Put adds 5 lakh shares in Open Int

Nifty Feb 6400 Call adds 4.3 lakh shares in Open Int

Nifty 6000 Call adds 4 lakh shares in Open Int