D-street misses New Year bash; Nifty begins on flat note

The benchmark Nifty ended virtually flat amid thin volumes on the first trading day of 2015 following the absence of global triggers.
It was a slow day for frontline bluechips in the absence of institutional participation due to year-end holidays as most global financial markets remained closed on account of New Year.
However, most buying actions were centred around small and mid-cap stocks, outperforming the key indices.
The broader 50-share index oscillated between 8,294.70 and 8,248.75 before settling at 8,284, showing a small gain of 1.30 points, or 0.02 per cent.
On the macro front, data released late yesterday showed India's fiscal deficit touched 99 per cent of the full year target of Rs 5.31 lakh core, while the growth rate of eight core sector industries rose to five-month high of 6.7 per cent in November on the back of better output in coal, refinery products, electricity and cement.

Metal, infra, auto and banking shares attracted good buying support while FMCG, healthcare, energy, technology and realty counters were at the receiving ends.

Telecom shares attracted huge buying interest with Bharti Airtel surging over 3 per cent after telecom regulator TRAI recommended a base price for the upcoming 3G spectrum auction.
Aviation stocks too logged smart gains after the government slashed jet fuel (ATF) rates by a steep 12.5 per cent.
Other major index movers included Jindal Steel, SBI, Tata Motors, L&T, Sesa Sterlite, ONGC, IndusInd, Tata Steel, Bajaj Auto, BHEL, HCL Tech, NMDC, BPCL, Infosys, Maruti, M&M and Hindalco.

Coal India, ITC, ICICI Bank, NTPC, Dr Reddys, HDFC, Ultratech Cement, Ambuja Cements, Power Grid, Wipro, Sun Pharma and Zee were the notable losers.
Turnover in the cash segment slumped to Rs 8,585.42 crore from Rs 12,111.66 crore yesterday.
A total of 5,787.24 lakh shares changed hands in 41,84,579 trades and market capitalisation stood at Rs 96,28,715 crore.