Markets at lows of the day

Realty and bank shares lead gains

Markets are trading near the day's low in afternoon trades as investors took to booking profit in rate sensitives. The Sensex is flat at 18,487. Nifty is up 17 points at 5,594.

Taking a cautious stance, the Reserve Bank today cut CRR by 0.25% - the percentage of deposits banks keep with central bank - but refrained from reducing lending rates in view high inflation. The RBI decision, which comes days after a slew of measures taken by the government to push growth, will release Rs 17,000 crore of primary liquidity into the system.

In Asia, Nikkei gained 1.8% to 9,159 after rallying late last week on hopes that fresh stimulus from the world's top central banks will support flagging growth. Hang Seng is up marginally as well.

BSE FMCG index has slumped 3% to 5,244. IT and healthcare indices are also down 2-3% each. However, realty index has gained 4.3% to 1,704 on hopes that real estate firms may benefit from the government's move to allow foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail chains. Bankex has rallied 2% after the Reserve Bank of India cut the cash reserve ratio by 25 basis points to 4.50% from 4.75%, which can help banks trim base rates.

Among individual stocks, ICICI Bank is the top gainer - up 5% at Rs 1,054. SBI has added 3.4%. Reliance is also a major contributor to the Sensex's upmove and is up 2.3% at Rs 860.

Jindal Steel, Larsen & Toubro and Tata Motors have advanced 3-4% each. However, weakness can be seen in ITC - down 4% at Rs 257. TCS, Infosys and Wipro are down 2-4% each after rupee touched four month high against the dollar.

Welspun Corp is up 0.3% at Rs 101 after the company said it has successfully concluded the placement of Rs 252.8 crore secured redeemable non convertible debentures. Cairn India is up 2% at Rs 362 as US crude oil futures rose to the highest level in 4 months on speculation that economic stimulus in the US will boost fuel demand.

BSE market breadth is neutral. Out of 2,829 shares traded, 1,365 shares have advanced while 1,326 shares have declined.