Markets end flat amid range bound trades

Markets ended mixed amid lacklustre trade on Thursday, easing most of the early gains, as investors booked profits in index heavyweights Reliance Industries and Infosys.

The Sensex ended at 15,857, lower by 26 points and the Nifty ended flat at 4,750.

For the most part of the day the markets traded in a narrow range. Sensex has traded in a range of 170 points in today's session.

According to Ravi Nathani, a Mumbai based  technical analyst,"4,800 is very important level for nifty -If it sustains than we might see a fresh rally on charts whereas next resistance would be at 4,860."

DLF was the top loser among the Sensex stocks, down 4% to Rs 179. Reliance Industries also shed 2.3% to end at Rs 699. Coal India, Maruti Suuki, Hindalco, ONGC, Sterlite Industries, Bharti Airtel, Wipro and HUL were also among the prominent laggards on the BSE benchmark index.

However, J P Associates, Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Power, Mahindra & Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro, Cipla, HDFC and Jindal Steel were among the gainers.

Among other shares, Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC) ended 3% higher at Rs 100 after its board approved fund raising plans up to Rs 4,400 crore through issue of long term infrastructure bonds.

CCL Products (India) has rallied 6.5% to Rs 134 on reports that the export of instant coffee reached an all-time high during the calendar year 2011. The company is the largest coffee exporters accounted 11% of the total coffee export made by the India.

Oil & gas, realty and metal stocks were amongst the worst hit in trades today. BSE Oil & Gas index was the top sectoral loser, down 1.7% to7,608 levels. Realty index lost over 1.6% at 1,400 levels. Metal index also ended the day lower by 0.7% at 9,813 levels. Technology, PSU, power, FMCG and healthcare stocks also witnessed a mild selling pressure.

At the same time, auto and capital goods stocks witnessed some buying interest in today's trading session. Both indices added 1% each. Bankex, consumer durables indices also ended marginally higher.

GAIL India was the top loser from the oil & gas pack, down 3% to Rs 381. HPCL, BPCL and Oil India also ended in the red.

Among the auto stocks, Exide Industries was the top gainer. It was followed by Bajaj Auto, Apollo Tyres, Ashok Leyland and Tata Motors.

The broader markets ended on a flat note. BSE Mid-cap index ended at 5,264, down by a point and the small-cap index ended at 5,703, up 12 points.

The overall market breadth was fairly positive as 1,443 stocks advanced while 1,236 stocks declined.