Markets seen consolidating at current levels

Broader markets gain

Markets seem to be consolidating at current levels after a sharp rally on Friday. The Sensex was down 24 points at 17406 after seeing a low of 17,380 in the opening trades. The Nifty lost three points at 5276

In the broader markets, the midcap and the smallcap indices gained 0.6% and 0.8%,respectively outperforming the Sensex down 0.2%.

On the macro front, India's factories in June stepped up production and hired workers at the fastest rate in more than two years, but sagging demand abroad took a toll on growth in new export orders, a survey showed on Monday. The HSBC manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 55.0 in June, a four-month high, from 54.8 in May. It has kept above the 50 mark that divides growth and contraction for more than three years.

Meanwhile, India's exports fell 4.16 percent year-on-year to $25.68 billion in May, while imports fell 7.36 percent year-on-year to $41.9 billion, government data showed on Monday. May's trade deficit was $16.3 billion.

Among the international markets, all the Asian markets were trading in the green after an agreement to stabilize euro zone banks sputtered out as investors waited for more details. Hang Seng, Jakarta Composite and Taiwan Weighted up 1-2% were the top gainers.

Back home, among the sectoral indices, Realty and Consumer Durables were the top gainers, up 1% each followed by Power and Capital Goods which added 0.6% each. On the other hand, FMCG, Oil & Gas and Auto indices down 0.4% each were the major draggers.

Auto index slipped on mixed June sales figures. Country's second largest two-wheeler maker Bajaj Auto reported a 1.38% decrease in its motorcycle sales in June at 318,377 units on a y-o-y basis. However, Maruti Suzuki India reported a 20% y-o-y jump in its total sales in June 2012, on back of robust sales growth in Swift, Estillo, Ritz and DZire.

The top gainers among the Sensex stocks were Maruti Suzuki, Gail India, BHEL, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, Hindalco and Tata Steel up 1-2%. Maruti Suzuki was up after the company reported 20.30% jump in total sales at 96,597 units in June.

Jindal Steel, Hero MotoCorp, ICICI Bank, ONGC, Bajaj Auto down 1-2% were the major losers.

Among other stocks, Ramco Systems soared 15% to Rs 156, its highest level since February 2008, after the company said the promoters have hike stake in the company to 15.25% from 13.15% earlier through open market purchases.

The market breadth was very positive owing to strong broader markets. 1525 stocks advanced while 786 stocks declined on the BSE.