Closing Bell: Flat end for D-Street, Nifty manages to hold 10,900; auto stocks rally

Equities have ended the session on a flat note, with the Nifty closing above 10,900-mark.

Barring automobiles, weakness was visible among all sectoral indices, with pain visible among energy, consumption, infrastructure, and metals space. The midcap index fell nearly a percent.

At the close of market hours, the Sensex was up 34.07 points or 0.09% at 36616.81, and the Nifty up 22.10 points or 0.20% at 10934.40. The market breadth was negative as 852 shares advanced, against a decline of 1679 shares, while 146 shares were unchanged.

Hero MotoCorp, IndusInd Bank, Zee Entertainment and Titan were the top gainers, while Tata Motors, Coal India, and Tata Steel lost the most.

FIIs raised stake in nearly 400 companies in December quarter; Do you own any?

Foreign investors raised stake in as many as 387 companies including HDFC, Bharat Financial, Indiabulls Housing, IndusInd Bank, Shriram Transport, Bharti Infratel, Zee Entertainment and Hero Moto... Read More

Egypt wants to wean away Bajaj Auto's rickshaw drivers to help build a new Cairo instead

Nearly a fourth of Bajaj Auto's three-wheeler overseas shipments head to Egypt, making it the second largest market in the world for the Pune-based company after Sri Lanka... Read More

The Volatility index, India VIX is trading slightly higher than yesterday's close at 15.74 (up 0.11%).

Titan Company is up about 4% intraday. It has also touched its 52-week high today.

Falling inflation and declining global crude oil prices have created space for the Reserve Bank of India to cut interest rates, S&P Global Ratings said.

S&P Global Ratings Economist Vishrut Rana said inflation remains under control and near the low end of the target band, following strong food output, and easing crude oil prices, that have fallen about 20 per cent from their October highs.

"These two factors mean that the Reserve Bank of India has some policy space to move its interest rate settings downward at least in the near term," Rana told PTI.

PNB Q3 profit at Rs 246.5 crore, NII rises 8% to Rs 4,290 crore; asset quality improves

Punjab National Bank (PNB) reported a surprise net profit of Rs 246.5 crore for the December quarter. This implies a jump of 7 percent from Rs 230 crore that the bank posted during the same quarter of last year.... Read More

Among BSE 200 stocks, 7 have touched 52-week low today including Reliance Capital, Reliance Infra and Tata Global beverages. Three stocks among BSE 200 have touched 52-week high including Axis Bank, Divi's Laboratories and Titan Company.

All eyes are on MPC meeting; RBI could change its stance to 'Neutral': Edelweiss

The headline inflation is lingering below central bank's projections, crude oil prices are stable, domestic growth momentum is slowing and global rate cycle is peaking out which gives enough room to the MPC to change its stance and possibly go for a rate cut.... Read More