Sensex, Nifty close flat amid Greece concerns, weak rupee

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty closed flat on Thursday amid never ending Greece concerns and faltering rupee against dollar. Reliance Industries, State Bank of India, ITC and HDFC helped the market throughout the session whereas fall in L&T, ICICI Bank, ONGC, BHEL and TCS weighed in the second half of trade.

The BSE benchmark rose just 40.39 points or 0.25%, to close at 16,070.48 after shedding nearly 170 points from day's high of 16,240.18. The NSE benchmark went up 11.95 points or 0.25% to 4,870.20. Also listen to the accompanying audio.. The rally (of 210 points) in early trade looked like a good pull back today led by short covering (after a fall of 298 points on the Sensex yesterday). However, nervousness among investors due to Greece crisis and rupee near all-time low hurt investor sentiment and pushed market lower in the second half of trade. France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE were down 0.6-1% and even the euro was at four-month low against US dollar endless concerns over Greece and fears of contagion to other countries in Eurozone. Yesterday agencies reported that ECB suspended operations with some Greek banks. ECB said Greek banks moved to Emergency Liquidity Assistance and normal operations would resume once these banks get capitalised. Greece will hold new election on June 17 after failure of making several attempts to form coalition government. "I think Greece is first and foremost in people's minds partly because the situation there is unresolved. All eyes are eagerly watching out for any signal before the June 17 elections which will indicate a fundamental direction as to whether Greece will stay in the EU or not," says Gustavo Bagattini of RBC Capital Markets. The Indian rupee gained more than 20 paise today, but it begun downward journey in later part of the day. Rupee depreciated to 54.57 a dollar (all-time low) as against previous close of 54.49 a dollar. Country's largest engineering and construction company by sales Larsen & Toubro tanked 3.5% after foreign research firm Nomura downgraded the stock and cut stock's target to half. State-owned capital goods major BHEL was down 1.5%. Bajaj Auto, India's second largest two-wheeler maker fell 2.6% after fourth quarter numbers. Utility vehicle producer M&M plunged 3% whereas Maruti, Tata Motors and Hero Motocorp gained 0.4-1%. Top private sector lender ICICI Bank declined 0.9% while its rivals State Bank of India and HDFC Bank rose 1% and 0.44%, respectively. Housing finance company HDFC surged nearly 1.9%. State-owned oil & gas producer ONGC was down 0.7% whereas index heavyweight Reliance Industries jumped 1.3%. Cigarette major ITC retained its top position in the buying list due to value based buying. The stock rallied more than 3%. Drug maker Cipla tumbled 2.5% and private power producer Tata Power declined 1.5%. However, realty major DLF moved up 1.8% after CNBC-TV18 reported quoting sources that the company is goign to sign MoU for Amanresorts sale by May-end. It had bought Amanresorts in 2007 for USD 400 million. The broader markets too closed flat and the market breadth was neutral. In the second line shares, Pantaloon Retail tanked another 6% today after disappointing results on Tuesday. Mahindra Satyam was down 3.7% ahead of fourth quarter numbers today after market hours. However, Dish TV shot up over 10% after quarterly results. _PAGEBREAK_ At 15:04 hours IST: Sensex volatile; rupee near all-time closing low The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty were completely lacklustre in trade after shedding all gains. Endless concerns in Eurozone and rupee near all-time low kept investors away from risky assets. Even the market breadth turned neutral. The BSE Bankex too shed all gains, which was up 1.77% at one point of time today. Top private sector lender ICICI Bank tanked 1.4% and its rival State Bank of India was down just 0.17% whereas HDFC Bank gained 0.8%. The NSE benchmark fell 1.5 points to 4,856.75 while the BSE benchmark rose nearly 6 points to 16,035.84. The Indian rupee was trading at 54.54 to the dollar. Shares of Larsen & Toubro, largest engineering and construction firm by sales in India crashed 4%, topping the selling list. State-owned BHEL was down 1.4%. Top telecom operator Bharti Airtel shaved off its all gains as the company cut 3G mobile data prices. Among other largecaps, M&M, ONGC, Cipla, Bajaj Auto, Tata Power and Hindalco were down 1.4-2.75%. However, index heavyweight Reliance Industries was quite supportive since early trade, rising 1%. Even cigarette major ITC stayed 2.7% higher. Housing finance company HDFC too maintained its morning gains, moving up 2%. In the second line shares, Pantaloon Retail, Voltas, Birla Corp, Blue Star and Kalpataru Power rallied 4-7% whereas Everonn Education, Fairfield Atlas, Gokaldas Export, Essar Shipping and Orbit Corporation tanked 8-13%. At 14:11 hours IST: Nifty, Sensex turn flat; L&T, ONGC, ICICI, TCS drag The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty erased all gains following further fall in European markets. Technology, capital goods and healthcare stocks added more pressure on the market. The fall in index majors ONGC and ICICI Bank too weighed. The BSE benchmark was down just 10.53 points to 16,019.56 and the NSE benchmark slipped 3.5 points to 4,854.75. The broader markets also shed gains. France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's DAX fell 0.6% each and euro was at four-month low against US dollar due to endless concerns over Greece and fears of contagion to other countries in Eurozone. Country's largest engineering and construction company by sales Larsen & Toubro crashed 3.6% while state-owned BHEL dropped 1%. TCS, India's largest software services exporter tanked nearly 2% while its rivals Infosys and Wipro were down 0.5-1%. Top private sector lender ICICI Bank was down 0.77% whereas rivals State Bank of India and HDFC Bank gained 0.4% and 0.85%, respectively. Housing finance company HDFC was up 1.7%. Top utility vehicle maker Mahindra & Mahindra tumbled 3% and second largest two wheeler major in India Bajaj Auto was down 1.4%. Drug makers Cipla and Sun Pharma were down 3% and 1%, respectively. State-owned oil & gas producer ONGC tanked 1.7% while Reliance Industries rose 0.9%. However, cigarette major ITC stayed quite strong, rising 2.7% on valued based buying. At 12:49 hours IST: Sensex, Nifty off day's high on weak European markets The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty shed somewhat gains in afternoon trade due to fall in L&T, ICICI Bank, ONGC and technology stocks. Weak opening of European markets too added somewhat pressure on the market. However, consistent buying interest in FMCG, metals, select financials and index heavyweight Reliance Industries helped the market.
 
The BSE benchmark rose 0.48% or 76.69 points to 16,106.78 and the NSE benchmark went up 22.65 points or 0.47% to 4,880.90. The broader markets too came off day's high - the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were up 0.5% each. France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE were moderately lower in early trade as Greece newsflow continued to drive risk aversion. Yesterday agencies reported that ECB suspended operations with some Greek banks. ECB said Greek banks moved to Emergency Liquidity Assistance and normal operations would resume once these banks got capitalized. Greece will hold new election on June 17 after failure of making several attempts to form coalition government. Back home, shares of country's largest engineering and construction company Larsen & Toubro extended fall, losing 2%. TCS, India's top software services exporter and even its rival Wipro fell over 1%. Drug maker Cipla topped the selling list, falling over 3%. Among others, M&M, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Auto, GAIL and ONGC were down 0.5-1.5%. Top private sector lender ICICI Bank too turned lower, trading marginally down whereas its rival State Bank of India was up just 0.5%. HDFC Bank and HDFC gained 1.34% each. However, cigarette major ITC stayed sharply higher, rising 2.6%. Index heavyweight and oil & gas producer Reliance Industries retained its 1% upmove. At 11:46 hours IST: Short covering holds Sensex gains; Bajaj Auto, L&T down 1% The BSE Sensex continued to hold about 150 points gains led by short covering. Meanwhile the NSE Nifty remained above the 4900 level quite nicely led by support from stocks like Reliance Industries and ITC. SBI, Bharti Airtel and HDFC Bank too were quite supportive. The BSE benchmark moved up 150 points or 0.94% to 16180 and the NSE benchmark rose 45.45 points or 0.94% to 4,903.7. Shares of ITC and Bank of Baroda topped the buying list, rising 3.7% and 3.4%, respectively. Ambuja Cements, DLF and SAIL were up 2.5-3%. Among banking and financial stocks, HDFC Bank, HDFC and State Bank of India rallied 1-2% while ICICI Bank was up just 0.3%. Oil & gas producer Reliance Industries and top telecom operator Bharti Airtel climbed 1.3% each. However, India's largest enginnering and construction company by sales Larsen & Toubro dropped over 1%. Bajaj Auto, country's second largest two-wheeler maker fell 1.3% ahead of quarterly numbers today. Software services provider TCS and drug maker Cipla were down 0.5% each. The broader markets too gained nearly 1%. The market breadth stayed in favour of advances; about three shares gained for every share falling on the National Stock Exchange. In the second line shares, AstraZeneca shot up 14%. Dish TV India, Hexaware Tech, Fresenius Kabi and VST rallied 5-8% whereas Blue Star, Pantaloon Retail, Tulip Telecom, Kalpataru Power and Infotech Enterprises fell 3-4%. Asian markets extended gains; Shanghai Composite rose 1.4% and Taiwan Weighted gained 1.7%. Hang Seng and Nikkei went up 0.7% each while Kospi and Straits Times were up 0.6% each. At 10:29 hours IST: Nifty stays above 4900 with 1% gain; ITC, DLF top buy list The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty stayed 1% higher in morning trade led by short covering in most beaten down stocks. Banks, metals, auto and FMCG stocks saw buying interest today. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries gained 1%. The BSE benchmark rose 178.78 points or 1.12% to 16,208.87, supported by 27 components. Meanwhile, the NSE benchmark moved up 53.8 points or 1.11% to 4,912.05. Amit Gupta, head- derivatives of ICICI Direct said, "For intraday traders, 4,950 is going to be critical immediately. A close above that possibly may give you an indication that finally we are going to hit 5,050,” he adds. FMCG majors ITC and HUL gained nearly 3% and over 1%, respectively. Realty major DLF rallied 3%. Country's largest lenders State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank were up 1.5-2%. Housing finance company HDFC rose 1.6%. Top telecom operator Bharti Airtel moved up over 1% and state-owned capital goods major BHEL went up 1.5%. However, shares of BPCL slipped 1.4% on profit booking. HCL Tech, ACC, Grasim, Dr Reddy's Labs, TCS, L&T and Infosys were marginally lower. Asian markets too gained on Thursday after taking a beating yesterday, but the situation has not changed in Europe and the problems in Greece still persist. Yesterday agencies reported that European Central Bank has suspended operations with some Greek banks. The central bank said Greek banks were moved to Emergency Liquidity Assistance, so normal operations would resume once these banks got capitalized. At 9:15 hours IST: Sensex, Nifty up nearly 1%; Asian mkts gain too The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty saw nice pull back on Thursday morning, rising nearly 1% following upmove in Asian markets. Somewhat short covering was seen as the market had fallen in previous seven out of nine sessions due to Greece political crisis and depreciation in rupee. The BSE benchmark rose 123.03 points or 0.77% to 16,153.12 led by 26 stocks. Meanwhile, the NSE benchmark crossed the 4900 level, which was up 39.55 points or 0.81% at 4,897.80. The Indian rupee too recovered some losses, rising 0.28% to 54.34 a dollar. Asian markets like Shanghai, Hang Seng, Kospi, Taiwan and Straits Times moved up 0.4-1.3%. Nikkei was flat after recovery from day's low. However, Greece newsflow continued to drive risk aversion. Agencies reported yesterday that ECB suspended operations with some Greek banks; the central bank said normal operations will resume once these banks capitalized. Back home, frontliners like ITC, HDFC, DLF, Bharti Airtel, Bank of Baroda, SBI, Axis Bank, SAIL, Hindalco, JSPL, L&T, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, PNB, Ranbaxy and HUL gained 1-2%. However, Tata Motors dropped another 1% due to disappointing global sales data for April. The stock had fallen 7.4% yesterday. The CNX Midcap Index went up 67 points or 0.93% to 6,966. About three shares advanced for every share falling on the National Stock Exchange. In the second line shares, Dish TV was up 2.6% after fourth quarter numbers. Deccan Chronicle and Adani Port rallied 3-4%. Educomp Solutions gained 3% as SEBI disposed case against company on Rs 1 lakh consent fee. Delta Corp, Kingfisher, VIP Industries, IRB Infrastructure, Manappuram Finance and Harrisons Malyalam were up 1-2%. Hexaware, KPIT Cummins Mahindra Satyam (ahead of Q4 numbers) and JP Power (ahead of Q4 numbers) went up 1-2%. However, 3i Infotech was down 2%.