Markets were trading on a flat note in noon deals on the back of selling pressure in the healthcare, metal and auto stocks. The Sensex was at 16,968, up 10 points and the Nifty was at 5,105, up 6 points.
According to Ashish Chaturmohta, Vice President ( Derivatives & Technical Analyst), IIFL Wealth, "We are in a consolidation mode, which is in a broader range of 4900-5250 levels."
Meanwhile, the European markets have opened higher. DAX was at 5,994, up 129 points, FTSE added 46 points to 5,442 and the CAC was flat at 3,228.
Back home, Jindal Steel was the top loser among the Sensex stocks, down 3% to Rs 502, Hindalco shed 2.2% to Rs 130. Coal India slipped 1.7% to Rs 333 after the coal ministry is said to have agreed to the power ministry’s demand to divert a part of the coal currently being sold through e-auction to the power sector. Maruti Suzuki, Sun Pharma, Tata Power, Hindustan Unilever, Larsen & Toubro, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, J P Associates and NTPC were also languishing in trades, down 0.6-1.6% each.
On the other hand, ICICI Bank was the top gainer. The stock jumped 2.7% to Rs 883. DLF added 2% to Rs 242. SBI, TCS, HDFC Bank, Infosys, Tata Steel, BHEL and Sterlite Industries also advanced 0.4-1.8% each.
Among the individual stocks, JSW Steel traded higher by 2% at Rs 623, extending its Wednesday’s 3% rally, after the company said it has entered into a joint venture (JV) with the Tokyo-based Marubeni-Itochu Steel Inc (MISI) to set up a steel processing centre in north India at an investment of Rs 122 crore. The location of the proposed plant was not disclosed.
The shares of Vijay Mallya-led UB Group such as United Breweries, Kingfisher Airlines, United Breweries Holdings and McDowell Holdings also traded higher by more than 2% each after UB Group sold a stake of 42.5% in its Formula 1 team – Force India – to Subroto Roy-led Sahara Group. The team would henceforth be known as Sahara Force India.
On the sectoral front, the BSE Healthcare index was the top loser, down 0.7% or 42 points to 5,889, Metal index was down 0.5% to 11,419. Auto, FMCG, Capital Goods and Oil & Gas indices were also trading in the red, down 0.3-0.5% each. Power and PSU stocks also witnessed some bit of selling pressure.
At the same time, Banking and IT stocks continued to witness the buying consecutively for the second day. Bankex jumped 1.5% to 11,025 levels and the IT index was quoting 5,576, higher by 58 points. Buying was also visible in the Realty and consumer durable stocks.
The broader markets were also trading higher. The BSE mid-cap index was up 26 points at 6,180 and the small-cap index added 41 points to 6,923.
The overall breadth was positive as 1,364 stocks were advancing while 1,127 were declining on the BSE.
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