Benchmark shares indices ended flat amid a lacklustre trading session on Thursday after investors booked profits in index heavyweights Reliance Industries and Infosys.
The 30-share Sensex provisionally ended at 15,852 down 30 points and the 50-share Nifty ended flat 4,750.
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(Updated at 14:44Hrs)
Markets are trading marginally down in late noon after investors booked profits at higher levels.
The Sensex is down 13 points at 15,869 and the S&P CNX Nifty is at 4,751 higher by a point. For the most part of the day the markets traded in a narrow range. Sensex has traded in a range of 100 points in today's session thus far.
According to Ravi Nathani, a Mumbai based technical analyst,"4,800 is very important level for nifty -If it sustains than we might see a fresh rally on charts whereas next resistance would be at 4,860."
DLF is the top loser among the Sensex stocks, down 4% to Rs 179. Coal India has also shed nearly 3% to Rs 317. Maruti Suzuki, ONGC, Reliance Industries, Wipro, NTPC, Hindustan Unilever, Hindalco and Sterlite Industries are also among the prominent laggards on the BSE benchmark index.
However, J P Associates, Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors, Larsen & Toubro, Cipla, Tata Power, Mahindra & Mahindra and HDFC are among the gainers.
ACC is trading higher by 1.4% at Rs 1,119, bouncing back 3.4% from day’s low of Rs 1,082 after reporting 9% year-on-year (y-o-y) growth in cement dispatches for the month of December 2011, highest in last three months.
Among other shares, Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC) has moved 4% higher to Rs 101 after its board approved fund raising plans up to Rs 4,400 crore through issue of long term infrastructure bonds.
CCL Products (India) has rallied 14% to Rs 143 on reports that the export of instant coffee reached an all-time high during the calendar year 2011. The company is the largest coffee exporters accounted 11% of the total coffee export made by the India.
Realty, PSU and oil & gas stocks are amongst the worst hit in the late noon trades. BSE Realty index is the top sectoral loser, down 1.5% at 1,402 levels. PSU index has shed 1.2% at 6,647. Oil & Gas index is also trading lower by 1% at 7,656 levels. metal, FMCG and technology stocks are also witnessing a mild selling pressure.
At the same time, auto and capital goods stocks continue to witness some buying interest so far. Both indices are up 1% each. Bankex, healthcare and consumer durables indices are trading on a positive note.
DB Realty, HDIL, Unitech, Parsvnath Developers and Sobha Developers are losers among the realty stocks. From the PSU pack, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur is the top loser. It is followed by Hindustan Copper, Dredging Corp, HMT, Coal India and Gail India.
The mid-cap and small-cap indices are trading flat with a positive bias.
The overall market breadth remains fairly positive as 1,445 stocks are advancing while 1,128 are declining.