Markets are marginally up in late morning trades with the BSE benchmark index, Sensex up 60 points at 16,277 and the Nifty gained 14 points at 4,921 led by engineering major Larsen & Toubro. Earlier at the start of the trade the indices swayed between positive and negative terrain.
Meanwhile, in the broader markets, the smallcap index stayed in the negative, down 0.2% while the midcap index turned flat underperforming the Sensex, up 0.2%
In the Asian markets, all the indices except Hang Seng, Straits Times and Taiwan Weighted are in the red. The major losers are Shanghai Composite, Nikkei, Jakarta Composite and KLSE Composite down nearly 1% each.
Among the sectoral indices, Capital Good s and IT indices are the only ones to trade in the green territory. Led by the gains in construction major, L&T (up 4%), the capital good index advanced over 2% followed by IT which added 0.5%. Bankex and Metal indices remained flat with a positive bias.
Engineering company Larsen and Toubro Ltd (L&T) on Monday said it expected a 15-20 per cent growth in order inflow and revenue in the current financial year, as the company reported a 13 per cent jump in net profit to Rs 4,456 crore for 2011-12, despite slower order wins. Meanwhile, auto index slipped 1%
The top gainers among the Sensex stocks include Cipla, Hero MotoCorp, Wipro, Infosys and Jindal Steel up 1% each.
On the other hand, Maruti Suzuki, NTPC, Tata Motors, Coal India and Mahindra & Mahindra down 1% are the notable losers.
Among other stocks, C&C Constructions plunged 14% to Rs 67.45 after reporting a net loss of Rs 56 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2012, due to lower operational income and higher interest cost.
Lovable Lingerie dipped 6% to Rs 308, its lowest level since May 2009, after reporting 43% quarter-on-quarter fall in net sales at Rs 19 crore for the quarter ended March 2012.
Pantaloon Retail dipped 4% to Rs 144 after the company said it will transfer its 53.67% stake in Future Capital Holdings Ltd (FCH) to its wholly-owned subsidiary Future Value Retail (FVRL).
Orchid Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals tanked 9% to Rs 124, extending its 13% fall, after the company reported 66% year-on-year (y-o-y) drop in net profit at Rs 20.55 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2012. Net sales too, dipped 9% at Rs 452 crore on y-o-y basis.
The market breadth is mildly negative with 1105 stock declined and 1007 advances.
