The markets closed mixed with the Sensex up 13 points at 18,532 and the NIfty closed flat with a negative bias at 5,547.
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(Updated at 1438 hrs)
The markets continue to trade in the positive with the Sensex up 56 points at 18,575; gaining 208 points from the day's low. The Nifty too gained 11 points at 5,563. The broader markets after seeing a firm opening pared its initial gains. The smallcap and the midcap indices are up 0.2% each underperforming the Sensex up 0.3%
Earlier in the day, markets opened higher following firm Asian peers and positive sentiment built in after commodity prices eased last week. However investors booked profit in the morning session after the steep rally on Friday which saw the market slipping into the negative.However, after languishing in the negative territory in the early noon trades, the markets rebounded into the positive zone on the back of fresh buying in FMCG stocks and on bargain hunting in pivotals after an intraday slide.
Adding to the downtrend, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) continued to remain net sellers.They sold shares worth Rs 655 crore on Friday, while DIIs were net buyers of Rs 1,081in equities. FIIs have been net sellers of Indian equities since April 25 and have sold Rs 7032.63 in the past 10 trading sessions.
Among the sectoral indices, interest rate sensitive auto stocks fell on worries that a higher interest rates could crimp sales of automobiles. The index is the top loser, trading at 9,150, down 0.7%. IT stocks fell on concerns that profit margin may squueze going forward. The top laggards in this space were Core Projects down 2% followed by Wipro, Patni Computer and TCS shedding 1% each. Worries on rising interest rates which could hurt future profit saw the Bankex index remain in the negative for the major part of the day. The major losers in the banking space are Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Axis Bank down 1% each.
On the other hand, most of the FMCG stocks rose ahead of Hindustan Unilever's Q4 result making it the top gainer among the sectoral indices gaining 1.2%. Nestle India up 3%, Marico, United Spirits, ITC and Hindustan Unilever up 1% each were the top gainers. The metal index up 1% was the other noteable gainer.
The top gainers among the Sensex-30 stocks are Bharti Airtel, Tata Power, Sterlite Industries, Jindal Steel, Hindustan Unilever and Hindalco gaining between 1-4%
Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki, Jaiprakash Associates, Bajaj Auto,Reliance Infrastructure, Hero Honda, NTPC and Wipro down 1-2% are the top Sensex losers.
The market breadth is negative. Of the total 2820 stocks traded on the BSE, 1387 stocks have declined while 1304 have advanced.