Markets end flat as realty shares weigh

Markets ended flat after a lacklustre session of trade. The Sensex opened the day higher on global cues. However, with weakness in realty shares, the index fell to a low of 17,455. The Sensex attempted to recover and ended flat at 17,570 - up seven points. The Nifty ended up five points at 5,289.

Asian markets ended lower as investors worried that surging bond yields could stifle debt-ridden Italy's fund raising ability and throw the euro zone deeper into financial turmoil. Hang Seng was flat at 19,678. Nikkei slipped 1.3% to 8,656. Seoul Composite and Taiwan Weighted were also weak in trades. Meanwhile, France has announced new austerity measures designed to maintain the AAA credit rating. European markets were in green. CAC and DAX rose 1% in opening trades to 3,135 and 5,984, respectively. FTSE added 0.7% to 5,553.

Meanwhile, the indirect tax collections during October declined by 2.5% mainly on account of drop in realisation from customs and central excise during the month. Collections from customs dropped by as much as 11.6% in October to Rs 11,357 crore from Rs 12,849 crore in the same month last fiscal, Finance Ministry sources said.

However, Exports in the month of October rose an annual 10.8% to $19.9 billion, while imports for the month rose 21.7% to $39.5 billion, the trade secretary said on Tuesday, citing provisional data.

BSE consumer durables index remained the top gainer among sectoral indices and moved up 1% at 6,584. The oil & gas index recovered from its lows and ended up 0.2% at 9,044. FMCG index gave up gains and ended unchanged at 4,183.

SBI and Tata Motors moved up 1-2% each. Hindustan Unilever, Sterlite, TCS and Hindalco advanced marginally. BHEL gained 0.3% to Rs 335.

ONGC ended flat at Rs 278 after reporting 60% year-on-year (y-o-y) growth in net profit of Rs 8,642 crore for the quarter ended September 2011 against Rs 5,389 crore in the year-ago period, on the back of higher crude prices and reduced subsidy outgo. Revenue was up 24.4% at Rs 22,687 crore on y-o-y basis.

ABB surged 4% to Rs 708 after posting near double profits at Rs 22.16 crore for the third quarter ended September 2011, as against Rs 11.51 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Net sales grew 29% to Rs 1,726 crore on a year-on-year basis.

Among other stocks, Anil Ambani-led Reliance Power posted a net profit of Rs 235.48 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2011, a marginal rise over a profit of Rs 234.80 crore in the same period last year. The stock added 3.5% to Rs 103.

Meanwhile, NTPC plans to seek bids in next two to three months for long-term supply of imported coal of up to 20 million tonne per annum. The stock shed 1% to Rs 178.

On the other hand, realty shares were weak as the index dropped 1.3% to 1,898. Pasrvnath Developer, Pestige Estate, Indiabulls REal Estate and DLF dropped 1-4% each.

BSE market breadth was neutral with 1,434 shares advancing and 1,399 declining today out of a total 2,964 shares traded.