Markets end on a subdued note

HDFC Bank top Sensex loser

Markets ended todya's sessuion on a subdued note on the back of profitbooking witnessed by select heavyweight stocks. The Sensex provisionally closed weaker by 33 points at 19,307 and the 50-share Nifty slipped 9 points to end provisionally at 5,871.
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(Updated at 1445 hours)

Markets remained subdued in late noon trades amid profit booking in HDFC Group shares after recent gains. Investors also remained cautious ahead of FDI vote in Parliament that will test the Congress-led UPA government's ability to push through key reforms.

The Sensex is down 57 points at 19,285 and the 50-share Nifty has slipped 16 points to 5,862 levels.

The Asian markets also ended on a subdued note on concerns that stagnant US budget talks could threaten to derail the world's largest economy. A closely watched indicator of Chinese manufacturing activity confirmed a swing back to expansion in November but the data proved insufficient to dispel worries over next year’s outlook.

Hang Seng was down 262 points at 21,767, Shanghai Composite ended weaker by 20 points at 1,959 and Straits Times slipped 2 points to close at 3,068.  While, Nikkei advanced 12 points to end at 9,458.

The European markets inched higher early on Monday, led by commodity companies , on the back of improving manufacturing data from China. DAX and FTSE were 0.4% each. While, the french CAC40 index was down 34 points at 3,523.

Back home, India's manufacturing sector beat the expectations of economists to grow at its fastest pace in five months in November, boosted by strong export orders and a surge in output, a business survey showed on Monday.

The HSBC manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), which gauges the business activity of India's factories but not its utilities, rose to 53.7 in November from 52.9 in October.

HDFC Bank is the top loser among the Sensex stocks. Shares of India's second largest private  sector slipped 2.5% to Rs 686 on the account of profit booking as the stock touched its all time high price during the previous week. Bharti Airtel also slipped 1.4% to Rs 332. NTPC, HDFC, ITC, Sun Pharma, Tata Motors, Cipla, Hero MotoCorp, HUL, Tata Power, TCS, Larsen & Toubro, Infosys and ONGC are also among the laggards.

On the other hand, BHEL is the top gainer from the heavyweight space. The stock has advanced 1.5% to Rs 240. Tata Steel, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, State bank of India, Jindal Steel, Reliance Industries, Hindalco and Wipro are also among the notable gainers.

On the sectoral front, the BSE FMCG index is the top gainer. The index has slipped 0.5% or 29 points at 6,008. Bankex, consumer durables and teck indices are also trading on a weak note. While, ralty, metal, oil & gas, power, capital goods and auto indices are up 0.2-1.4% each.

Among the individual stocks, Tulip Telecom has locked in 5% upper circuit of Rs 37.60 on the BSE after the company said that it may be able to repay its foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCB) worth $140 million (about Rs 760 crore) by the end of this month.

Shares of rating agencies, ICRA and Crisil are trading higher by over 4% each on back of heavy volumes ahead of the initial public offer (IPO) of Credit Analysis and Research Ltd (CARE), which opens on Friday.

PVR has surged 8.4% to Rs 327, extending its previous two-day’s rally after the company announced buyout of Cinemax India’s promoters’ entire 69.27% stake for Rs 395 crore.

The broader markets are outperforming the banchmark indices. The BSE mid-cap index is up 1% or 78 points at 6,980 and the small-cap index is up 0.8% or 58 points at 7,334.