Markets end flat ahead of GDP data

Markets finished the first session of the eventful week on a flat note as investors await for the GDP data for the September quarter later today amid persistent fund outflow s. Meanwhile, RBI's fifth bi-monthly monetary policy meet due tomorrow is closely watched by the participants.

Provisionally, the Sensex closed 18 points up at 26,146 and the Nifty shed 3 points to end at 7,938.

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(updated at 3:30 PM)

Markets are witnessing a quiet session as investors await for the GDP data for the September quarter later today amid persistent fund outflow s. Meanwhile, RBI's fifth bi-monthly monetary policy meet due tomorrow is closely watched by the participants.

This week is going to be an eventful week as vital key macroeconomic data is due to be unveiled including India’s manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) data for November on Tuesday, and services PMI data for the current month on Thursday.

At 2.55 pm, the Sensex was at 26,187 mark up 59 points while the Nifty was trading at 7,953 up 10 points. The broader markets are outperforming- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are up 0.3-1%.

On the flip side, Asian equities closed mostly in the red with Japan’s Nikkei dropping 0.7% despite official data showing an uptick in industrial production and retail sales for October. Meanwhile, China markets pared its losses to finish with marginal gains after the regulator banned some brokerages for infringement of trading rules last week. 

European stocks are trading mixed as investors eye key economic data from the US, Europe and China. The ECB meet on Thursday is keenly awaited.

Back home, the rupee fell by 5 paise to 66.72 against the US dollar, as the prospects of the US Fed interest rate hike strengthened the dollar.

Stocks in focus

Ahead of the RBI policy meet tomorrow, rate-sensitive stocks are hogging the limelight. Financials are trading mixed with ICICI Bank, SBI and Axis Bank up between 0.2-2.5%. However, HDFC twins are trading lower up to 1.5%.

Auto stocks are trading firm ahead of the monthly sales figures of automobile companies, starting tomorrow. Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki and Hero Motocorp have jumped between 0.5-2.5%. 

Tata Motors has launched a new car called Zica, a compact hatchback. Expected to be priced around Rs 4 lakh, Zica will compete against Hyundai i10,Maruti Suzuki Wagon-R, Chevrolet Beat and Datsun Go, among others in that category.

Maruti Suzuki aims to increase its annual sales to about 2 million units by 2020, will invest Rs 15,000 crore over the next five years in procuring land for doubling its dealership network and expanding stockyard, warehouse and transportation infrastructure.

Another notable gainer is L&T. The stock has moved up by 1% after L&T Finance invested Rs 100 crore in two residential projects of Rishabh Group in the NCR region, as per an industry source.

In the pharma basket, Cipla has gained 1% as it prepares to launch low dose 'Efavirenz' used in treatment of HIV infection.

A weak rupee has lifted the technology pack higher. Infosys, Wipro and TCS have surged between 0.3-2.5%.

On the flip side, Bharti Airtel is the top loser of the hour. The stock has fallen 2% as it decides to invest Rs 60,000 crore towards transformation of its network in next three years ahead of impending launch of Reliance Jio 

Vedanta has fallen 1% after the company incurred a cumulative loss of Rs 4,299 core on its 1 million tonne Lanjigarh alumina refinery since the beginning of commercial operations in August 2007.

Meanwhile, oil and gas majors RIL and ONGC are trading with losses as oil prices declined ahead of an Opec meeting later this week and as a widely expected US interest rate hike strengthened the dollar. RIL and ONGC have lost over 1% each.