Nifty ends below 6,000

Realty, bank stock drag

Markets erased early gains to end near the day's low as investors booked profits in select sectors. The Sensex had opened higher on hopes of global growth recovery in US after better-than-expected economic data, however, gains were capped on caution ahead of third quarter earnings starting this week.

The Sensex after touching a high of 19,856, pared gains and ended down 93 points at 19,691. Nifty slipped below the 6,000 mark and ended down 28 points at 5,988.

Global risk appetite was positive after US data showed employers added workers in December at about the same pace as the prior month while manufacturing expanded at a faster pace in December.

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on 5 January 2013 said that reflecting a continuing deterioration in the macro economic scenario in the country, the CII Business Confidence Index dropped below 50 point mark during the third quarter of the current fiscal.

Meanwhile in Asia, the Nikkei slipped nearly 1% to 10,599. Hang Seng, Taiwan Weighted and Kospi were also in the negative zone. Many Asian metal and mining stocks had lost ground on Friday following the Fed minutes, and they added to those losses on Monday.

European shares were trading mixed as investors booked profits after recent gains. The CAC-40 and DAX down 0.4% each while FTSE-100 was up 0.4%.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1164.41 crore on Friday as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.

Back home, According to Navneet Daga, Derivative Analyst with KR Choksey Securities, "structurally markets looks very promising for upside, but on short term its more or less likely to consolidate in range of 5,930 to 6,100 levels, before we get cues from earning session."

BSE capital goods index slipped 1.5% to 10,932. FMCG, consumer durables, realty and bankex were also down around 0.6-1% each.

However, BSE oil & Gas index bucked trends and gained 1% at 11,396. Market heavyweight, Reliance Industries slipped 0.6% at Rs 855, after gaining in early trades. Petroleum minister, M Veerappa Moily, has allowed Reliance Industries and Cairn India to explore oil and gas within producing fields, subject to conditions. Cairn India, meanwhile was up 1.5% at Rs 343.

IT pivotals rose on positive economic data in the US, the biggest outsourcing market for the Indian IT firms. Infosys was up 1% at Rs 2374 before announcing quarterly results on Friday, Jan 11, 2013. Wipro was and TCS were flat at Rs 404 and Rs 1,291, respectively.

Auto stocks continue to outperform since early trades on hopes of robust earnings growth in the third quarter. BSE auto index was up 0.4% at 11,634. Maruti Suzuki advanced 2.5% to Rs 1584, its highest level since December 15, 2009 on the BSE, on hopes of strong net profit growth in Q3 on account of the low base of last year and sharp revival in volumes post the Manesar strike. Mahindra & Mahindra added 1%, followed by Hero MotoCorp up 0.7%.

Cipla surged 1.7% at Rs 423. ONGC, Tata Steel and Sun Pharma were up over 1% each. On the other hand, Larsen & Toubro slipped 2.3% at Rs 1,589. HDFC was down 1.5% at Rs 824. Hindustan Unilever, HDFC Bank and Tata Power were down around 1% each.

Telecom stocks slumped on profit booking. MTNL, Bharti Airtel, Dhanus Tech, Idea Cellular shed 0.1-1% each.

BSE market breadth was strong. Out of 3,066 stocks traded, 1,617 shares advanced while 1,317 shares declined.