Markets continue to trade flat

Select auto, pharma shares gain

Markets continued to move on a lacklustre note as traders rolled over their positions on expiry day. Realty and IT shares weighed on the markets and took the Sensex down 37 points at 16,809. Nifty was down 11 points at 5,098.

Asian markets traded in the red, erasing all earlier gains. The Nikkei, however, added 1% to8443 on hopes of strong earnings from corporates, Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite were down half a per cent each.

BSE realty index shed 1.3% to 1,610. Capital goods, PSU and IT indices also showed weakness in trades. Meanwhile, BSE healthcare index added 0.5% to 7,034.

IT major - Infosys was the biggest dragger among Sensex stocks and accounted a 11 point fall on the Sensex. Wipro shed 1% to Rs 335.

Larsen & Toubro slipped 1%, followed by Tata Motors, SBI and Tata Power.

On the other hand, Sun Pharma added 2.7%. Dr Reddy's, also from the pharma pack, jumped 1.8%. Select auto shares such as Maruti and Bajaj Auto added 1.5% each.

Among individual stocks, SKS Microfinance has slipped 3% to Rs 84 on reports that some of its employees have cheated the company to the tune of Rs 15.8 crore in the last financial year.

Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company is down 1.3% at Rs 198 on reports that Morgan Stanley has bought shares worth Rs 40.39 crore the company.

Reliance MediaWorks’ board has approved raising up to Rs 600 crore by way of rights issue in a move to reduce the debt burden. Shares of Reliance MediaWorks' is down 2% at Rs 59.

BSE market breadth is negative. Out of 2,580 shares traded, 1,600 shares have declined while 862 shares have advanced.