Volatile markets end flat; metals, banks shine

Tata Steel, SBI, L&T and Sun Pharma advanced 2-5% each

Markets ended today's volatile session on a flat note, however select stocks from metal, realty and banking space witnessed buying in today's session.

The BSE benchmark index- Sensex closed unchanged at 19,997 and the 50-share Nifty added 16 points to settle at 5,913.

For the most part of the day, the markets witnessed profit booking post the yesterday's massive gain. In the intra-day deals, the Sensex dipped to a low of 19,777 and the Nifty touched the low 5,832. India's volatility index- the gauge of volatility advanced 1% to 29.75.

Asian markets also took a breather on Wednesday and ended on a flat note after nine days of gains as investors booked profits. While, investors gave the safe-haven yen a wide berth on growing optimism for the Chinese economy and receding worries about US military strikes on Syria.

Shanghai Composite closed higher by 3 points at 2,241, Hang Seng slipped 40 points to end at 22,937, Nikkei added couple of points to settle at 14,425, Straits Times slipped 22 points to end at 3,101 and the Seoul Composite ended at 2,003, up 10 points.

Back home, metal stocks ended higher in trades today on back of stronger-than-expected retail and industrial growth in China, the world’s largest user of the metal.

The data from the National Bureau of Statistics revealed that industrial production in China increased 10.4% y-o-y in August. The Chinese retail sales also grew by 13.4% annually, faster than the 13.3% increase expected by the economists.

The BSE metal index jumped 3.3% or 278 points to close at 8,633. JSW Steel was the top gainer from this space, the stocks advanced 9% to end at Rs 645. SAIL, Tata Steel, NMDC, Hindalco, Coal India, Sterlite Industries and Sesa Goa also jumped 2-6% each.

Banking stocks also saw some buying in today's session after the reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed banks to borrow overseas up to 100% of their capital and swap it at a subsidised rate. Triggered by this news, the BSE banking index- Bankex gained nearly 2% or 208 points to end at 11,793.

Most of public sector banks such as Uco Bank, Dena Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Syndicate Bank, Bank of India and Union Bank of India ended higher by 7-10% on the BSE.

Among the other sectoral indices, the BSE realty, PSU, capital goods, healthcare and power indices jumped 0.5-1.4% each. On the other hand, FMCG, consumer durables, IT and oil & gas indices closed on a negative note.

Among the Sensex stocks, Tata Steel was the top gainer, the stock gained 5% to end at 316. State Bank of India, Sun Pharma, Maruti Suzuki, Coal India, Mahindra & Mahindra, Jindal Steel, HDFC Bank, Larsen & Toubro and Hero MotoCorp also ended the day on a positive note. However, Tata Motors succumbed to the profit booking and ended down, 2.5% to close at 340. HUL, BHEL, ITC, Bharti Airtel, Cipla, ONGC, Dr Reddy's Labs, ICICI Bank, NTPC and Reliance Industries also fell prey to the profit booking and slcosed in the red.

Smart Moves

Financial Technologies (India) soared over 26% at Rs 183 in noon deals on back of heavy volumes.

The stock opened at Rs 145 and touched a low of Rs 140 on NSE. A combined 15 million shares change hands on the counter till against an average sub 7 million shares that were traded daily in past two weeks on NSE and BSE.

Eros International moved higher by 5% to Rs 138 after the company engaged in movies and entertainment business said its parent company, Eros International Plc filed updated registration statement with United States Securities and Exchange Commission for proposed initial public offer (IPO).

PVR closed higher by 7% at Rs 428 extending its 6% rise in past four trading day’s on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

The stock opened at Rs 401 and hit a new high of Rs 438 on NSE. A combined 303,500 shares have change hands on the counter so far on NSE and BSE.

The broader ended on a firm note. The BSE mid-cap index gained 1.3% or 74 points to close at 5,599 and the small-cap index ended at 5,463, up 60 points.

Overall breadth was positive as 1,419 stocks advanced while 940 declined.