Markets continue to trade flat in the noon deals weighed down by the losses in ONGC, L&T and HUL. At 12:55, the Sensex was flat with a negative bias at 18,429 and the nifty was down five points at 5,592.
In the broader markets, the smallcap was in line with the Sensex while the midcap index outperformed with nearly 0.2% gains.
Among the sectoral indices, Health Care and Auto indices were up 1% each along with Consumer Durables and IT indices adding 0.2% each. On the other hand, Capital Goods and Oil & Gas indices lost 0.8% each. PSU, FMCG, Power, Metal and Bankex indices too gave off 0.1-0.5%.
From the auto pack, Maruti Suzuki shot up 3% at Rs 1,439, extending its previous day’s 2% gain on reporting a better-than-expected net profit of Rs 227 crore for the second quarter as against analyst estimate of Rs 175 crore due to mark-to-market gain of Rs 43 crore on commodities. Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hero MotoCorp and Bajaj Auto too gained 0.5-1%
The other notable gainers were Dr Reddys Lab, Wipro, Cipla, Hindalco, HDFC, Sterlite and SBI up 1-2%.
Meanwhile, the draggers were ONGC and Gail India down 2% each. HUL, BHEL, L&T, Jindal Steel, Coal India and Tata Steel down 0.7-1% were also among the losers.
The market breadth was negative. 1331 stocks declined while 1152 stocks advanced on the BSE.
In individual stocks, Zylog Systems was locked at 20% lower circuit at Rs 149 on back of heavy volumes on the BSE.
Jammu and Kashmir Bank surged 5% to Rs 1,174 after reporting a better-than-expected 35% year-on-year (yoy) jump in net profit at Rs 270 crore for the second quarter ended September 2012. Analyst on an average expected profit of Rs 226 crore from the private sector bank. Total income grew 29% at Rs 1,592 crore on y-o-y basis.
Top Section
Explore Business Standard