Dull trades continue

Moving in a rangebound fashion, the markets saw dull trades in the post-noon session. The Sensex, down 39 points, was at 19,652, while the Nifty, at 5,897, slipped 13 points.

Reliance Infra was the top gainer on the Sensex up 1.5% at Rs 696, followed by Tata Motors at Rs 1,298 and Hero Honda at Rs 1,668 both up a little over 1%. NTPC moved up 1% as the company announced its FY11Q4 provisional net profit moved up 24% to Rs 2,505 crore. DLF, Bajaj Auto, Jai Prakash Associates, ONGC and SBI were also up nearly 1% each.

Losers on the Sensex were led by Wipro down 2% at Rs 470, Bharti Airtel at Rs 355 also down nearly 2% and Hindalco Industries at Rs 213 down 1%. ITC, TCS, Reliance Communications and Maruti Suzuki were off 1% each.

The broader markets were firmly in the positive, and outperformed the benchmark. The Mid-cap index was up 0.7% at 7,209, while the Small-cap index gained nearly 1% at 8,797.

Realty, sonsumer durables and power stocks continued to rule the sectoral chart. The Realty index advanced 2% to 2,473, The Consumer Durables index gained almost 2% at 6,588 and the Power index added 1% at 2,802.

FMCG stocks were laggards in trade, and the index was quoting at 3,621 down 0.3%.

With 1,726 advances and 1,089 declines, the market breadth remained positive.

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(Updated at 1230 hrs)

The markets continued their run in negative territory, after having traded in the red for a better part of the day. The Sensex moved down 59 points to 19628, and the Nifty lost 16 points to touch 5,894.

After a brief spell in the positive, during the morning session wherein the Sensex scaled the day's high of 19,811, the markets dipped in the late morning sessions, and the Sensex dropped to its intra-day low of 19,551, a drop of 260 points from the day's high. However, a steady upward movement was noticed thereafter. A little into noon, the bourses inched into the green, but the slipped again.

Reliance Infra was the top gainer on the benchmark up 2% at Rs 698, followed by NTPC at Rs 191, also up 2% and Hero Honda at Rs 1,664 up 1%. Tata Motors, SBI, DLF, Bajaj Auto, ONGC and Jaiprakash Associates were the other major gainers on the Sensex, each up approximately 1%.

On the losing side, Wipro led the chart down 2% at Rs 472. Hindalco Industries at Rs 213, Bharti Airtel at Rs 356, and Reliance Communications at Rs 111, down 1% each. Mahindra & Mahindra, TCS, ITC and HDFC Bank also declined about 1% each.

The broader markets outperformed the Sensex, with the Mid-cap index at 7,201 up 0.6%, and the Small-cap index at 8,786 up 0.8%.

Realty stocks led the sectoral chart, and the index was up nearly 2% at 2,466, followed by the Consumer Durables index at 6,525 and the Power index at 2,800, both up 1%.

HDIL led the realty components, and it was up 6% at Rs 192. Mahindra Lifespaces at Rs 409 was up 5%, while Ackruti City at Rs 245 gained 4%. On the consumer durables front, Rajesh Exports was the top gainer at Rs 104 up 4%, followed by Whirlpool at Rs 279 and Bajaj Electricals at Rs 266 both up 2%. In the power sector, Suzlon Energy, which sold $150 million of foreign currency convertible bonds at a premium, zoomed 6% to Rs 52 while Lanco Infra at Rs 42 advanced 4% and PTC India at Rs 92 added 3%.

The FMCG index was the laggard in trade, and it was quoting at 3,611 down nearly 1%. ITC at Rs 182 and Colgate Palmolive at Rs 850, both down 1%, were the only components trading in the red on the FMCG index.