Markets continue to move sideways

Reliance advanced in lacklustre market

Markets continued to move sideways in late morning deals with the Sensex trading at 17,399 - up 25 points. Nifty is unchanged at 5,293.

Asian markets were trading on a soft note. The Nikkei was flat at 9,553 after a report that the Bank of
Japan would extend the maturity of bonds it purchased prompted investors to sell index futures and buy five-year Japanese government bonds. Hang Seng shed 0.7% to 20,863.

BSE Oil & Gas index gained 0.6% to 7,997 as heavyweight Reliance Industries shrugged off weak Q4 numbers. Healthcare and PSU indices also moved up. However, Realty and IT indices remained in red and slipped nearly 1% each to 1,754 and 5,423, respectively.

Reliance was the biggest contributor and accounted for a 18 point gain in the Sensex. India’s most valued company on Friday after market hours has reported a 21% year-on-year (y-o-y) fall in its net profit to Rs 4,236 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2012. Total income went up 17% at Rs 85,182 crore on y-o-y basis.

"RIL is one of the weekest among the index heavy weight, we think this have a major support placed near 715/720 levels, while on higher side it has multiple supply zone near 765 levels, technically this stocks is in consolidation mode with negative bias, short term traders should use any bounce near 765 odd levels to enter into short positions," says Navneet Daga, Derivative Analyst, KR Choksey Securities .

Tata Steel added 1.4% to Rs 477. Maruti Suzuki, ONGC, HDFC Bank and ITC added 0.78% each. Among other gainers were HDFC, Sun Pharma and Coal India. On the other hand, DLF slipped 1.7% after BSE decided that the realty major would be replaced by Dr Reddy's in the Sensex.

Tata Power has dropped 1.5%, followed by BHEL, Infosys and Jindal Steel. Hindalco and Sterlite also slipped in trades.

BSE market breadth was positive. Out of 2,427 shares traded, 1,388 shares advanced while 942 shares declined in trades.