Markets pare early gains to end flat; Tata Steel gains over 3%

Benchmark indices settled the day on a flat note amid mixed global cues after Asian stock markets stabilized near three-month high on US President-elect Donald Trump's concerns over a stronger dollar.
 
Gains were capped as investors remained cautious ahead of the Union Budget 2017 as they hope for incentives to support an economy hit by cash shortages after a ban on higher-value banknotes.
 
The markets started upbeat but later pared gains to turn flat dragged by NTPC, Bharti Airtel, GAIL and Hero MotoCorp.
 

The S&P BSE Sensex settled the day at 27,257, up 22 points, while the broader Nifty50 ended 19 points higher at 8,417.

 
Broader markets outperformed benchmark indices with BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap up 0.5% and 0.6%.
 
Sectors and Stocks
 
The Nifty Bank index hit its highest in two months at intrad-day, with YES Bank and Canara Bank leading the gains. The index ended 0.5% higher for the day.
 
The Nifty Bank index gained as much as 1.1% to hit its highest since Nov. 17, 2016. YES Bank gained over 1% ahead of its earnings tomorrow.  All except auto and realty sectoral indices in Nifty50 ended in green.
 
NTPC, Hindustan Zinc, Adani Power, Tata Steel and Steel Authority of India (SAIL) were among 24 stocks from the BSE500 and Small-cap indices hitting their respective 52-week highs in intra-day trade at BSE.

 
NTPC later pared gains to become the biggest laggard on Sensex, down 1.7% while Tata Steel was the biggest gainer, up over 3% at closing.
 
Metal was the top sectoral gainer on Sensex, up over 2% led by gains in NALCO, Hindalco, Vedanta, JSPL and Tata Steel.
Among individual stocks, Hindustan Zinc settled 4.8% higher on reports that the government has demanded around Rs 15,000 crore in dividend payout from the company as the partly state-owned mining firm is sitting on surplus cash reserve.
Hinduja Ventures pared early gains to settle in red after the company disinvested 61.10 million shares of Hinduja Energy (India) shares held by Hinduja Ventures.

 
Delta Corp tanked 5% at intra-day to Rs 128 even as the company reported a net profit of Rs 1.76 crore, down 78%, against Rs 8.03 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. The stock ended 2% lower on BSE.
 
Global Markets
 
Asian stock markets stabilized near three-month highs on Wednesday, helped by Hong Kong and Chinese shares, as investors judged U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's concerns over a stronger dollar to be beneficial to some of the regional bourses.
 
Short-covering also helped, especially in China, which tumbled more than 4% last week, as traders took some money off the table before Trump's inauguration on Friday.

 
In Asia, MSCI's ex-Japan Asia-Pacific shares index rose 0.4%, just shy of a three-month high hit last Thursday. Energy and cyclicals were the chief gainers.
 
European shares edged higher on Wednesday in early deals, helped by a slew of well-received company results from ASML, Novozymes and Burberry, though shares in Pearson slumped after its update.
 
The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.3% in early trades, while Britain's blue-chip FTSE 100 index gained 0.4%, recovering some of its losses from the previous session when a rise in sterling put pressure on its dollar-earning firms.