Sensex trades flat ahead of month-end expiry

The benchmark BSE Sensex was today trading almost flat amid volatility ahead of monthly expiry of derivative contract on July 31.
The market momentum witnessed heavy fluctuation with bouts of selling pressure in realty, oil & gas, teck, FMCG and healthcare sectors along with shares of midcap and smallcap companies.
However, banking, capital goods, auto, power, consumer durables, metal and IT segment saw good buying activity.
The 30-share index Sensex resumed higher at 26,173.47 and moved up further to a high of 26,181.83 and a low of 26,072.22. It was trading 26,199.04, down 7.71 points, or 0.03 per cent, at 1010 hours over its last close.

The CNX Nifty also edged down by 2.30 points, or 0.03 per cent, to 7,788.15 at 1010 hours.
Major losers were Coal India (2.31 pct), HDFC (1.35 pct), TCS (1.28 pct), Reliance (0.82 pct), Bharti Airtel (0.65 pct) and Bajaj Auto (0.65 pct).

However, notable gainers were Axis Bank (2.20 pct), M&M (1.33 pct), Tata Motors (1.09 pct), BHEL (0.95 pct) and SBI (0.90 pct).
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 125.51 crore last Friday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
Most of the Asian stocks were trading higher as investors await data on US services before the Federal Reserve meets this week.

Key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea were up by 0.46 pct to 2.07 pct, while key benchmark indices of Taiwan, Indonesia and Singapore were down 0.01 pct to 0.19 pct.