Markets flat, capital goods gain

Markets are trading on a flat note in noon deals. The Sensex is up 60 points at 15,873 and the Nifty has advanced 17 points to 4,751. The capital goods stocks are witnessing renewed buying interest.

According to AK Prabhakar, Senior Vice President Equity Research, Anand Rathi, "The Nifty can correct below 4000 and any relief rally will be a chance to reduce positions."

Frontline capital goods stocks such as BHEL and Larsen & Toubro are leading the gainers chart on the Sensex, up 3.2 and 3% each respectively. Sterlite Industries, Maruti Suzuki, Hindalco, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors, Hindustan Unilever and DLF are also among the gainers, up 0.7-2.3% each.

On the other hand, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Auto, ONGC, Jindal Steel, J P Associates and Cipla are among the losers.

Among individual stocks, Punj Lloyd is trading higher by 3.25% at Rs 41 after the company announced that it is has ventured into Kenya for Loruk-Barpelo road project.

MBL Infra has jumped 3.14% to Rs 105 after the company announced that is has secured fresh orders aggregating Rs 315.79 crore.

ABB has soared 9% to Rs 619 after ABB Group bagged an order worth more than Rs 4,000 crore from the state-owned company Power Grid Corporation to supply a transmission system with the highest converter capacity ever built, the Swiss engineering group said

Monnet Ispat has rallied 6% to Rs 380 after its board approved the buyback of its own shares at a maximum price of Rs 500 a share.

All the sectoral indices, barring IT, are trading higher. The BSE Capital Goods index is the top sectoral gainer, up nearly 3% at 8,342 levels. Realty, Metal, Power, Auto, PSU and Bankex indices are trading higher by 0.4-1.6% each.

From the realty sector, Anant Raj Industries is the top gainer, up 11% at Rs 40. It is followed by Prestige Estates, HDIL, Phoenix Mills, Godrej Properties, DB Realty and Unitech have also added 1-5% each.

The broader markets have outperformed the benchmark indices. The BSE mid-cap index is up nearly 1% at 5,228 and the small-cap index has added 1.5% to 5,641.

The overall market breadth is positive as 1,568 stocks are advancing while 891 are declining.