Markets remain lacklustre; FMCG shares drag

Benchmark indices continue to trade in a tight range weighed down by FMCG and Auto shares. However, buying in financials and capital goods segments has capped the downslide. 

At 1 PM, the Sensex is lower by 29 points at 27,179 mark and the Nifty has slipped by 3 points at 8,177.

In the broader market, BSE midcap and smallcap indices have performed better than the front-liners with gains of around 0.4% and 0.2% each. 

The market breadth on the BSE remains almost neutral with 1,241 shares advancing and 1,234 shares declining.

Hot Stocks:

The top 5 losers on the Sensex are Maruti Suzuki, ITC, Tata Motors, HUL and GAIL trading down between 1-1.5%.

On the flip side, HDFC, SBI, Infosys, Sun Pharma and L&T are the top 5 gainers and have gained between 0.5-1% on the BSE.

Banking shares mainly public sector undertaking (PSU) are trading higher by up to 4% in noon trade on the bourses on reports that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold discussions with chiefs of public sector banks on January 3 to work out an action plan for major reforms in the banking sector. 

Corporation Bank, Union Bank of India, Allahabad Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Bank of India and Syndicate Bank are up 3-4%, while State Bank of India (SBI), Oriental Bank of Commerce, IDBI Bank, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda and Canara Bank up 1-3% on National Stock Exchange (NSE).

Zensar Technologies has moved higher by 7% to Rs 619 after the information technology (IT) company announced that it has signed multi-million dollar deals in its infrastructure management business in the US in the concluding month of calendar year 2014.

Shares of edible oil maker Ruchi Soya Industries has rallied 6% to Rs 37.55 on NSE on reports that the government has hiked import duty on both crude and refined edible oil by 5%.

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(updated at 1PM)
Benchmark indices are trading marginally lower after losing initial momentum as the absence of any significant directional cues has limited fresh buying by investors.  Losses in FMCG, auto and oil & gas shares are weighing the most on the indices.   
 
At 11:50AM, the 30-share Sensex was down 41 points at 27,167 and the 50-share Nifty was flat at the mark 8,171.
 
In the broader market, BSE midcap and smallcap indices have performed better than the front-liners with gains of around 0.2% and 0.1% each.  Market breadth in BSE is slightly positive with 1,161 advances against 1,140 declines.
 
Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors sold Indian equities worth Rs 2,808.27 crore on Wednesday, as per provisional stock exchange data. The markets were closed on Thursday on account of Christmas Day holiday.
 
Buzzing Stocks
 
BSE Bankex and Capital Goods index with gains of around 0.3% each have emerged as the lead gainers among the 12 sectoral indices in BSE.  BSE FMCG index, down 0.7% is the top loser followed by BSE Oil &Gas index which is down 0.5%.
 
Financials are the lead gainers in late morning trades. HDFC twins have gained around 0.5% each. Axis Bank and SBI have gained close to 1% each while ICICI Bank is trading flat.
 
Infosys, Sun Pharma, Coal India and Sesa Sterlite are other major gainers of the hour with gains around 0.3% to 0.6% each.
 
Losses in FMCG, Auto and oil shares have weighed the most on the indices. ITC and HUL have lost around 1% each.Among auto shares, Bajaj Auto, Hero Motocorp, M&M, Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors have declined around 0.2% to 0.8% each.
 
Oil shares are trading weak after oil prices rose in Asia today as dealers reacted to a surprise Islamist attack on Libya's main oil terminals that left 22 soldiers dead. Reliance and ONGC have lost around 0.3% each while GAIL has declined over 1%.
 
Among other shares, edible oil maker Ruchi Soya Industries has rallied 6% on reports that the government has hiked import duty on both crude and refined edible oil by 5%.
 
Alphageo (India) has surged 9% in an otherwise weak market, extending is previous day’s gain on NSE, after the company said it has been awarded Rs 10.42 crore contract from the state-owned oil exploration and production firm Oil India.