Sensex, Nifty end flat; Infosys & Tata Power lose 2%

Moneycontrol BureauLive Market Commentary

3:55 pm Interview: The coal ministry recently cancelled allotment of a coal block in Madhya Pradesh to Jindal Steel & Power Ltd and Monnet Ispat & Energy Ltd as they failed to develop it. Speaking to CNBC-TV18 on the issue, Ravi Uppal, JSPL said the company is disappointed with coal ministry's show cause notice for delay in development of coal mines adding that the timeline given to them was not reasonable.

"The de-allocation by the government was a sad development given that the company had been working really hard on the development of those blocks," he said. According to Uppal, the financial loss incurred by the company due to the de-allocation of coal blocks is severe and cannot be quantified.

“JSPL in the whole industry is known do projects in shortest possible time. We are considered to be an icon and if we cannot do that you can be assured nobody else can do better than us,” he added.

3:46 pm Market closing: The Sensex ends up 21.31 points at 21101.03, and the Nifty closes below at  6284.50, up is 10.25 points. About 1579 shares have advanced, 915 shares declined, and 166 shares are unchanged.

Benchmark indices trim intraday gains to end the day flat. Both the Sensex and Nifty add around one-tenth of a percent each. But broader markets rally - midcaps and high beta lead the way

RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan reiterates that the central bank is not on hold and is only waiting for more inflation data. He tells CNBC Awaaz that he expects good harvest and stronger rupee to lower inflation.

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The market is holding up gains in the last trading week of the year. The Sensex is up 13.78 points at 21093.50, and the Nifty is up 11.95 points at 6286.20. About 1521 shares have advanced, 881 shares declined, and 160 shares are unchanged.

Bank Nifty outperforms with a 1 percent  gain while rate sensitives and metals are also faring well today.

Rupee is going stronger on dollar sales. Bonds higher tracking the fall in US yields and a stronger rupee.

Financial Tech is under pressure as sources indicate that Sebi has issued a show cause notice to the company post FMC order on being fit and proper. Sebi has asked Financial Tech to reply by December 26.

Market in 2014 will depend on the general elections scheduled in May and global cues, Ridham Desai, MD, Morgan Stanley said. In a bull case scenario, one could brace for a 25 percent growth and a bear case could pull it down by the same amount, he told CNBC-TV18 in an interview.

The election verdict is a crucial a market determinant and it is pricing-in a positive election verdict. However, only a strong election mandate may not trigger a bull market in 2014 because policy reforms that would lift India’s growth may not be in place yet, he added. Meanwhile, there could be a positive surprise in the US market in 2014 since the US Federal Reserve is exuding more confidence about the country’s growth and US growth could be stronger than what the Fed expects. If US data gets stronger then US bond yields will rise above 3 percent, he added.