Markets choppy in narrow range, IT shares slump

Realty, oil stocks in the positive zone

Markets continued to be choppy within a range even as most of the sectoral indices gained in late morning deals. The Sensex was up 30 points at 19,498. Nifty was up 6 points at 5,892.

From the sectoral pack, BSE realty index has gained 1% at 2057.PSU, healthcare and oil & gas indices also showed strength and went up half a per cent each. On the other hand, BSE IT index was down 0.7% at 6,430.

Jet Airways has slumped 5.2% at Rs 585 as Etihad Airways said it needs to revise its deal to buy a stake in Jet Airways. Also, he added, that it is too soon to say when a final agreement will be struck.

Meanwhile, Cairn India has added 1% at Rs 306 as the company has won approval to drill exploration wells on the prolific Rajasthan block that will help it boost output to 215,000 barrels per day by March 2014.

The rupee has declined by 14 paise to Rs 54.36 per dollar in early trade on the Interbank Foreign Exchange market today, weighed down by dollar's gains against other currency rivals.
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(Updated at 1940 hrs)

Markets have opened absolutely flat this morning taking cues from the global bourses. The Sensex is up 38 points at 19,506. Nifty is up six points at 5,893.

US stocks may take a breather after a seven-week winning streak as the quarterly earnings period draws to a close. The market also bumps into strong technical resistance.

Meanwhile, in Asia, Japanese shares rallied and the yen fell on Monday after Tokyo escaped direct criticism from its G20 peers on its aggressive reflationary plans that have weakened the currency.Taking their cue from the G20, the Nikkei average opened up 1.3 percent as the yen resumed its downtrend.

The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan  was nearly unchanged. The pan-Asian index briefly hit a 18-1/2-month high on Friday and had its best performance since the week of January 6 with a 1.2 percent weekly gain.

Broader markets have outperformed the Sensex this morning. BSE mid-cap index has added 29 points to 6,656. Small-cap index is up 0.6% at 6,580.

BSE realty index has gained smartly this morning. The index is up 1% at 2,060. PSU, oil & gas, bankex and capital goods indices are also in the green. On the other hand, BSE IT index has shown some weakness and is now down 0.6% at 6,438.

IT majors are leading the fall. TCS and Wipro are down 1% each, with Infosys following close behind. Tata Power is down 1% at Rs 96. Coal India, Mahindra & Mahindra and Jindal Steel are in red.

Bharti Airtel has slipped0.4% at Rs 315 in spite of the operators offering 4G services with 2,300-MHz spectrum are likely to get the option of switching to the more efficient 700-MHz band.

Tata Motors is set to introduce a refreshed model of the Nano car in the first half of this year and a CNG option coming 'very soon'. The stock however is down half a per cent at Rs 303.

On the other hand, SBI has added 1% at Rs 2,256. ONGC, Larsen & Toubro and HDFC are up in green - gaining nearly 1% each.

BSE market breadth is positive. Out of 1,554 stocks traded, 947 shares have advanced while 549 shares have declined.