Markets end flat amid volatility

Markets snapped two-day losing streak and ended flat with a positive bias on Tuesday as gains in auto shares helped offset losses in IT majors.

The 30-share Sensex ended up  19 points at 19,920 after touching a high of 20,050 and a low of 19,783 and the 50-share Nifty ended up 3 points at 5,892 after touching a high of 5,938 and a low of 5,855.

The rupee was marginally down at Rs 62.62 to the dollar compared with previous close of Rs 62.60.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold Rs 80.57 crore worth Indian shares on Monday, snapping their five-day buying streak, exchange data shows.

In Asia, most markets ended lower with Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite down over 0.6% each while Nikkei and Straits Times ended down 0.7-0.8% each.

European markets were trading with marginal gains ahead of survey of German business confidence and US housing data. CAC-40, DAX and FTSE-100 up 0.1-0.5% each.

Capital Goods index was the top gainer among the sectoral indices on the BSE up 1.4% amid short recovering at lower levels followed by Auto, Power, Consumer Durables. However, Metal, IT and FMCG were among the top losers.

HDFC and L&T were among the top Sensex gainers on shortcovering after sharp sell off in the previous two sessions. HDFC ended 1.7% while L&T ended 2.1%.

Shares of automobiles companies are in demand in otherwise subdue market on renewed buying interest on expectations of higher demand during the upcoming festive season. In the auto segment gainers include, Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors and Mah & Mah.

IT majors were among the top losers after the rupee firmed up against the dollar. TCS, Infosys and Wipro ended down 0.1-1.3% each.

Bharti Airtel ended down 1.5%. Despite easing competition in the Indian wireless market, Bharti’s revenue market share trends continue to be choppy. This may continue as its established peers (Voda, Idea) continue to expand in their newer markets. In Africa, Bharti faces slowing markets and keen competition, which are eroding realizations. Regulatory interventions and political disturbances have worsened matters, Anand Rathi Financial Services said in a note. Other losers include, HDFC Bank, Hindalco, Coal India and ONGC.

Among other shares, Godrej Properties has dipped 5% to end at Rs 359 after the new equity shares issued by the company at price of Rs 325 per share on rights basis got listed today.

PI Industries was trading higher by 3.6% at Rs 149, extending its 11% rally in past six trading sessions after the company increased the limit on the stake that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) can hold in the company to 40% from 24% of the paid up capital.

The promoters of Videocon Industries are selling 1.8 million shares of the company through the offer for sale (OFS) route to comply with the minimum public shareholding (MPS) requirement.The company has fixed floor price of Rs 177 per share for the transaction.  Floor price is the minimum price at which bids can be made. The stock ended down 2% at Rs 173.

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) ended up 10% at Rs 15.32 on BSE with no sellers on the counter on reports of signing pact with BSNL to utilise each other’s network for providing pan-India mobile services.

Lupin ended up marginally at Rs 854.30 on BSE after the pharmaceutical company announced that it has signed an agreement with US-based Onset Dermatologics under which it will market the latter's skin disease treatment medicine Locoid Lotion in the American market.

The BSE Mid-cap index and the BSE Small-cap index ended mixed.

Market breadth ended nearly neutral with 1,167 losers and 1,148 gainers on the BSE.