Bankex top gainer in flat mart

STOCK REPORT

Key indices ended nearly flat today, after five sessions of gains, as investors booked profits at every rise. The Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share Sensex touched a record high of 14035.30 in early trade, but ended at 13949.00, 0.4 per cent away from the 14000 mark.

The National Stock Exchange 50-share Nifty closed at 4015.95, up 0.20 points, after touching a lifetime high of 4036.20.

Turnover on both the exchanges together was roughly Rs 13,200 crore, against Rs 13,600 crore on Tuesday.

CNX Midcap ended down 1 per cent and S&P CNX 500 Index ended down 0.4 per cent. On BSE, declines outnumbered advances 2:1.

Banks were major gainers among Nifty on value buying. BSE Bank Index, up 0.3 per cent, was the top gainer among BSE indices. ICICI Bank was up 1 per cent at Rs 869 and Oriental Bank of Commerce was up 0.3 per cent at Rs 250.

Ranbaxy ended 2 per cent up at Rs 391, as the company today got tentative approval from US Food and Drug Administration to market anti-depressant sertraline hydrochloride. It was the top Nifty gainer.

Bharti Airtel was up 1 per cent at Rs 647 following a Rs 66 crore block deal in foreign institutional investor segment.

TCS ended up 1 per cent at Rs 1,197, after the company today bagged a five-year multi-million pound contract from UK-based United Biscuits.

Tata Power Supply ended up 1 per cent at Rs 598, as the company's strategic electronics division Tuesday bagged seven licences from the government to manufacture and supply defence equipment.

Shares of consumer durables firms ended down, extending their fall from Tuesday. BSE Capital Goods Index, down 3 per cent, was the worst affected. Titan Industries and Videocon Industries were down 2 per cent at Rs 798 and Rs 430.