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Markets opened on a flat note on account of lack of global cues with the Sensex up 18 points at 20,048 while the Nifty was flat at 6,080. The ones leading the opening gains were names like Coal India, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel and L&T.
Meanwhile, the broader markets saw some buying, with the midcap index gaining 0.2% and the smallcap index adding over 0.3%, both outperforming the Sensex which was marginally up by 0.1%.
In Asia, Japanese stocks stabilized while Asian shares were little changed on Tuesday, as investors awaited direction from U.S. and U.K. markets when they resume trade after holidays on Monday, following last week's turbulence.
The Nikkei stock average gained 0.6%, recovering from a 1.4% drop at the open which came on top of Monday's 3.2% tumble.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was steady around 467.61, holding slightly above Friday's five-week low of 464.99.
Back home, among the sectoral indices, Bankex and Consumer Durables indices started in the negative, down 0.2-0.4% and FMCG index was flat with a negative bias.
On the other hand, PSU, Oil & Gas, Metal, Health Care, Teck, Power and Capital Goods indices gained 0.2-0.8%.
Among the Sensex-30, Coal India was the top gainer up 3.5% after it reported better-than-expected 35% year-on-year jump in its consolidated net profit at Rs 5,413 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2013 on back of higher than expected sales volumes.
Gail India, Bharti Airtel, Dr Reddys Lab, ONGC, Tata Steel and Reliance Industries up 1-1.6% were the other notable gainers.
On the losing side were Hindalco, SBI, Sterlite, Mahindra & Mahindra, BHEL, HDFC and Wipro down 0.3-1%.
In individual stocks, AstraZeneca Pharma India dipped 14% to Rs 690 after its parent company fixed the share sale price at Rs 490 per share. The floor price is at a 39% discount to Monday’s closing price of Rs 799 on BSE.
The market breadth was very positive owing to the strength in broader markets. 604 stocks advanced while 266 stocks declined on the BSE.
