Markets end flat amid range bound trade

Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors and Sun Pharma among the top Sensex gainers

The markets ended flat amid a range bound trading session on Wednesday. The Sensex advanced 34 points to close at 17,392 after moving in a 150-point range between a low of 17,372 and a high of 17,523. The Nifty advanced 10 points to shut shop exactly at 5,300 after trading in a 50-point range between a low of 5,293 and a high of 5,342.

For the most part of the day markets were consolidating gains but the weak opening of the European markets dragged the local markets towards the end of the trading session.

The European markets were trading on a lacklustre note. The CAC-40 index was down 38 points or 1.2% at 3,254, DAX slipped 0.3% to 6,778 and the FTSE was also trading marginally lower at 5,765 levels.

Meanwhile the Asian markets closed on a strong note. The Nikkei advanced 2% to 9,667. Hang Seng and Shanghai also closed higher by 1 and 2% each respectively.

Back home, HDFC Bank ended higher by 1% at Rs 236, near its lifetime high price post the Q4FY12 results. The bank reported a 30.3% rise in net profit to Rs 1,453 crore, beating analyst forecasts, helped by higher fee income and credit demand as well as lower provisions for loan losses.

Tata Power, Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, Hindalco, Mahindra & Mahindra, Wipro, Jindal Steel, Hero MotoCorp, Sterlite Industries and Maruri Suzuki were also among the gainers.

On the other hand, DLF, ITC, BHEL, Larsen & Toubro, State Bank of India, Coal India, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel and Infosys were among the losers.

Auto and healthcare stocks were amongst the top sectoral performers in trades today. The BSE Auto index closed higher by 1.5% or 159 levels at 10,530 (near its lifetime high levels). On expectations of interest rate cut by banks in days to come after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) first time in three years reduced the repo rate- the rate at which it lends overnight funds to banks by 50 basis points to 8% in its annual monetary policy review yesterday.

Healthcare index also ended higher by 1% or 68 points to shut shop at 6,775. Oil & gas, metal, consumer durables, power and IT stocks also witnessed some bit of buying. The respective indices ended higher by 0.2-0.8% each.

At the same time, Realty index was the top sectoral loser, down 1.4% or 25 points to 1,799 levels. Capital goods, FMCG, bankex, PSU and teck indices were also among the losers on the sectoral charts, down 0.1-0.5% each.

Among the individual stocks, HCL Technologies rallied 3% to Rs 495 after reporting a better-than-expected 5.2% quarter-on-quarter (qoq) growth in net profit at Rs 603 crore for the third quarter ended March 2012.  India's fourth largest software services exporter, had a net profit of Rs 573 core in previous quarter. However, consolidated sales declined 0.6% to Rs 5,216 crore on q-o-q basis.

SpiceJet has surged 6% to Rs 35 after the company said it has received approval from the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) for importing aviation turbine fuel (ATF) directly from overseas market, which will bring down the operational cost of the airline.

Shares of ACC Ltd and Ambuja Cements Ltd, both controlled by Swiss cement maker Holcim Ltd, ended higher by 3% each ahead of their financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2012, schedule to be declared tomorrow.

The broader markets ended higher by 0.5%. The BSE mid-cap index advanced 30 points to 6,465 and the small-cap index added 34 points to close at 6,914 levels.

The overall breadth was positive as 1,625 stocks advanced while 1,251 stocks declined.