Markets remain lackluster; IT bucks trend

Markets continued to trade flat in afternoon session this Thursday as investors took a breather and preferred to remain on the side lines due to lack of major cues.

At 1PM, the Bombay Stock Exchange's 30-share index Sensex fell 10 points at 19,982.64 while the National Stock Exchange's 50-share Nifty was up 1 point at 6,068.

BSE-IT surged after upbeat results posted by Nasdaq-listed Cognizant improved growth prospects of Indian software makers as they get majority of business from clients in US and Europe.
 

Meanwhile, global risk appetite was positive after yet another record closing by the US markets, however, gains were capped on concerns over spike in China’s inflation which may prevent country’s central bank  from aggressive monetary policy easing.

Asian markets traded mixed with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng falling 0.3% to 23,185.83, China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.6% to 2,232, Singapore’s Straits Times rose 0.5% to 3,438 while Japan’s Nikkei declined 0.7% to 14,191 today.

Meanwhile, European markets were lacklustre in opening deals. France’s CAC dropped 0.8% to 3,923, UK’s FTSE rose 0.02% to 6,584 while Germany’s DAX was down 0.1% to 8,238.

Back home, the key sectoral indices such as healthcare, metals, oil & gas, capital goods, power declined while IT, PSU, bankex sectors gained on the BSE.

The gainers on the Sensex included, SBI rising 2.6%, TCS and Infosys rose 1.6% and 0.7% respectively, Mahindra & Mahindra and Hero MotoCorp were up over 1% each on the BSE.

The laggards included counters such as Cipla and Sun Pharma dropped 0.7% and 2.7% respectively, Jindal Steel and Sterlite Industries declined 1.4-1.5% on the BSE.

The key notable movers included, Viceroy Hotels has surged 18% to Rs 23.25 after the company engaged in hotels business announced the sell of company’s Chennai project to Ceebros Hotels for Rs 480 crore.

IT shares extended gains today and the IT index was among the top gainers among sectoral indices on the Bombay Stock Exchange amid encouraging results and outlook from Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp.

The broader markets gained with mid-caps and small-caps rising nearly 0.2% on the BSE.

The market breadth was flat. Out of 2,258 stocks traded, 1,026 stocks advanced compared to 1,097 declines on the BSE.