It has been a flat end to a rangebound trade of day. The Sensex closed higher by seven points at 18,409 and the Nifty gained 12 points at 5,543. This was in contrast to the positive cues from the European markets and a possible positive opening in the US markets.
On the global front, the Asian markets had an average session of trade. The Hang Seng closed down 0.4% at 20,889 and Nikkei closed at 9,116, down 0.6%, amid worries that a strong yen would derail the fragile economic recovery. On the other hand, the European markets had opened flat and subsequently extended their gains. The FTSE was up 0.4% at 5,221, CAC had gained 0.5% at 3,544 and DAX had gained 0.2% at 6,021.The Dow Futures is up 0.4% or 44 points which may trigger a positive opening in the US markets.
The smallcap index (up 0.9%) and the midcap index (up 0.8%) had outperformed the benchmark index (down 0.03%). Of the total 534 scrips traded in the smallcap index, 322 scrips had advanced while 204 had declined. Jindal Poly Films up 20% was the top gainer followed by Jindal Drill which added 16% and SEL Mfg Company which gained 14%. In the midcap space, 157 scrips advanced while 115 declined. State Bank of Mysore up 20% lead the gainers charts. State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur and State Bank of Travancore which added 19% each were the other major gainers.
Among the sectoral indices on the BSE, the day clearly belonged to Consumer Durables (up 4.3%), PSU (up 1.1%) and Teck(up 0.7%) stocks. Shares of consumer goods and textile companies rallied around 6% after the government extended the sops for exporters hit by fragile recovery in global markets. The government said, sops would continue for exporters in sectors such as capital goods and textiles to help them mitigate the impact of a fragile recovery in the global economy.FMCG index was in the red througout the day.The movers in the Consumer Durables space were Videocon Industries up 8% followed by Gitanjali Gems and Titan Industries which added 6% each.The draggers in the FMCG space were ITC down 2%, United Spirits and Colgate Palmolive shed 1% each.
The major gainers on the Sensex were Jindal Steel up nearly 3%(Rs 708) followed by Cipla(Rs 317) and Bharti Airtel(up 316) which added 2% each. ONGC, ICICI Bank and SBI were the other significant gainers.
On the other hand, the major losers on the Sensex were Relaince Infrastructure (Rs 1044), ITC (Rs 159) and Jaiprakash Associates (Rs 120) down 2% each.
The market breadth was positive. Of the total 3053 shares traded on the BSE, 1738 shares have advanced while 1216 have declined.
