Markets trade flat
Markets are trading on a flat note in the noon deals on back of fears that the income-tax authorities would go after participatory note investments in equities. The Sensex is up 32 points at 17,085 and the Nifty is up 9 points at 5,193 levels.
According to Ranak Merchant, Technical Analyst - Strategies, Sushil Financial Services, "Nifty is trading just above its 200 day EMA. For Nifty the 5,203-5,170 range is an important support zone and if the same is not violated a test of 5,300 towards the week's end may be possible."
The Asian markets were trading on a strong note. Hang Seng advanced 333 points to 21,002 levels, Nikkei jumped 237 points to 10,255 and Taiwan advanced 62 points to 8,029 levels.
Back home, Consumer durables, realty and FMCG stocks are witnessing buying while power, PSU, auto and banking stocks are facing a mild selling pressure.
The BSE Consumer Durables index is the top sectoral gainer. The index has jumped nearly 2% or 114 points to 6,490 levels. C Mahendra Exports is the top gainer from this space, up 4% to Rs 134. Titan Industries, VIP Indusitries, Videocon, TTK Prestige, Rajesh Exports and Bajaj Electricals are also trading higher by 0.4-3% each.
The Realty index is also trading higher by 1.4% at 1,750 levels. Unitech, DLF, Sunteck Realty, Oberoi Realty, HDIL and Anant Raj Industries are among the top gainers from this space.
FMCG, Healthcare, Metal, IT, Capital Goods and Oil & Gas indices are also among the gainers on the sectoral charts.
On the other hand, Power index is the top sectoral loser, down 0.6% to 2,070 levels. Tata Power, BHEL, Thermax, NTPC, Torrent Power, Crompton Greaves and Siemens are also among the losers.
PSU, Auto and Bankex indices are also in the red.
Among the Sensex stocks, Cipla is the top gainer, up over 3% to Rs 298. Sterlite Industries, HUL, Bharti Airtel, HDFC, Infosys and Larsen & Toubro are among the gainers.
At the same time, Maruti Suzuki is the top loser, the stock is trading lower by 2% at Rs 1,273 after the Maharashtra government proposed hike in road and registration tax on vehicles in its budget 2012-13. Maharashtra, and particularly Mumbai, is a key market for carmakers and is estimated to contribute as much 13-14% of national sales.
BHEL, Jindal Steel, Coal India, ICICI Bank, ONGC, TCS and Hindalco are also among the laggards.
Among the individual stocks, Sadbhav Engineering is trading higher by 5% at Rs 156 on winning road project worth of Rs 1,220 crore from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
The broader markets are trading marginally lower. The BSE mid-cap index is down 14 points at 6,235 and the small-cap index is down 7 points at 6,525 levels.
The overall breadthe is negative as 1,562 stocks are declining while 1,052 stocks are advancing.