Sensex flat, Nifty ends above 8200; IT drags, oil & auto up

Moneycontrol Bureau

After a volatile session, the market ended flat but the Nifty managed to hold the crucial 8200-level. The 50-share index ended down 11.25 points at 8224.20. The Sensex was down 45.04 points at 27206.06.

Analysts say the market is concerned about rising bond yields in Europe. German and US bond yields surged to their highest in more than five months, making equities look more expensive in comparison to debt and keeping Asian stock markets subdued.

Sandeep Bhatia, executive director, Kotak Institutional Equities feels the Nifty may slip below the 8000 mark and a good entry point for investors is 7800 on Nifty. He expects more earnings headwind the next quarter. The next round of positive trigger will be both the houses of the Parliament passing the Land Bill and GST Bill, he says.

Meanwhile, India VIX rose on worries about key land and tax reforms, and retrospective taxation of foreign investors.

On the macro front, wholesale price index (WPI)-based inflation for April fell to a new low of -2.65 percent, the sixth successive month of deflating prices. The WPI reading for March was -2.33 percent. Some experts say this is a clear sign of deflationary trend in the economy, and calls for some radical action by the policy makers. This is fifth successive month of negative WPI after the flat reading for November.

Buzzing stocks

About 1486 shares advanced, 1215 shares declined and 156 shares were unchanged.Oil, metals and auto stocks lend major support to the market. Hindalco and SBI rose 3 percent each while Bajaj Auto was up 2 percent. M&M and Tata Steel were other gainers in the Sensex.

Technology stocks were under pressure on rupee. Infosys and Wipro were down around 1 percent each. Vedanta, Sun Pharma and HDFC were other laggards in the Sensex.

Midcap index outperformed peers as Oriental Bank, CCL Internation, KEC International, Allahabad Bank and NCC surged 6-10 percent.

New kid on the block UFO Moviez saw a tepid listing on the bourses. The stock closed 4 percent lower from its issue price.