Markets end flat, weakening rupee weighs

Markets ended today's rangebound session on a flat note erasing intra-day gains after the Indian rupee which weakened to 54.85 per US dollar dampened market sentiment. The Sensex provisionally ended unchanged at 16,152 up points and the Nifty provisionally closed at 4,896 up 5 points.

Earlier in the day, the markets bounced back in trades today with Nifty registering the intra-day high of 4,937.
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(Updated at 1430 hours)

Markets continue to trade higher in the late noon deals on the back of sustained buying visible in the capital goods, realty and banking stocks. The Sensex is up 116 points at 16,268 and the Nifty has gained 38 points to 4,929 levels.

Meanwhile, most of the European markets have opened on a firm note. The CAC40 index is up 26 points at 3,033, DAX has jumped 44 points to 6,315. While, the FTSE 100 has opened lower by 0.7% at 5,300.

The Asian markets ended on a flat note in trades today. The Nikkei ended at 8,633, up 22 points, Shanghai Composite advanced 4 points to 2,348 and Taiwan ended higher by 41 points at 7,192 levels.

Back home, State Bank of India continues to remain the top gainer among the Sensex stocks, up 4% at Rs 2,018. Tata Power, Maruti Suzuki, Hindalco, HDFC, Coal India, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and Tata Motors are also trading higher. On the other hand, Wipro, Infosys, ITC, Cipla, NTPC, Bajaj Auto, HUL and ONGC are among the laggards.

Sustained buying is visible in the capital goods, banking and realty sectors. The BSE Capital Goods index has jumped 2% or 175 points to 8,892. Suzlon Energy is the top gainer from this space, up 5% to Rs 21. Larsen and Toubro from is also trading higher by 2.3% at Rs 1,188 after the company said L&T Construction has bagged new orders valued Rs 744 crore during the first quarter of 2012-13 so far. Havells India, Crompton Greaves, BHEL, Alstom Projects and Bharat Electronics are also trading higher.

The Realty sector stocks are also witnessing the renewed buying interest. The BSE realty index is up 1.6% at 1,581. DB Realty, Anant raj Industries, HDIL, Oberoi Realty, DLF and Pretige Estates are among the gainers.

Power, bankex, metal, oil & gas, PSU, auto, healthcare and consumer durable indices have also jumped 0.2-1.6% each. At the same time a wee bit of selling pressure is visible in the IT, FMCG and teck pockets.

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) shares are in limelight on the bourses after Reliance Capital reported a turnaround results for the quarter ended March 2012.

Reliance Capital, Reliance Infrastructure, Reliance Communications and Reliance Power are trading higher by 3-8% on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The broader markets are also trading higher. The BSE mid-cap index is up 48 points at 5,912 and the small-cap index is up 68 points at 6,323.

The overall breadth is positive 1,633 stocks are advancing while 902 are declining.