Markets flat in noon deals

RIL top Sensex gainer

Markets are trading flat in noon deals after investors booked profits at higher levels in select realty, auto and banking stocks. Meanwhile, index heavyweight Reliance Industries continues to trade on a strong note on the back of better-than-expected third quarter earnings.

The Sensex is up 31 points at 20,069 and the 50-share Nifty has advanced 2 points to 6,066 levels. In the intra-day deals so far the markets have been stuck in a tight range. The Sensex has so far traded in a range of 100 points while the Nifty has moved in a range of 30 points.

Most of the Asian markets are trading lower in trades today, taking a breather after hitting multi-month highs, while the yen touched a new low ahead of the outcome of the Bank of Japan policy meeting this week amid expectations for bold monetary easing measures.
 The Nikkei has slipped 1.5% to 10,747, Taiwan Weighted is down 8 points at 7,724 and Hang Seng is down 19 points at 22,582. While, Shanghai Composite is trading marginally higher at 2.328 levels.

Back home, index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) is the top Sensex gainer  after reporting a better-than-expected 24% year-on-year (yoy) growth in net profit at Rs 5,502 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2012 (Q3) on account of higher than expected profitability from refining segment.

It was the first time in five quarters that the RIL, India's largest-listed company by market value has posted a higher profit. The company had net profit of Rs 4,440 crore in a year ago quarter.

Net sales increased 10% to Rs 93,886 crore on y-o-y basis. It posted a gross refining margin of $9.60 a barrel in the past quarter, compared with $6.80 a year earlier, RIL said in a statement.

BHEL, Bharti Airtel, Maruti Suzuki, Jindal Steel, HUL, Dr Reddy's Labs, Larsen & Toubro, ITC and Gail India are also trading higher by 1-2% each.

While, Sun Pharma, Cipla, ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Power, TCS, Infosys, HDFC Bank, HDFC, ONGC and Bajaj Auto are among the laggards from the heavyweight pockets.

On the sectoral front, led by gains in RIL the BSE oil & gas index is the top gainer, up 1.6% or 152 points at 9,722. FMCG, capital goods and power indices are also up 0.3-1% each. On the other hand, realty, auto, bankex, healthcare, IT and PSU indices are trading lower.

Among the individual stocks, Finolex Industries has rallied 7% to Rs 64.85 after it reported a net profit of Rs 30.61 crore for the third quarter ended December 2012 (Q3) against loss of Rs 1.76 crore in year ago quarter, due to higher other income and lower interest cost.

 

Stocks of India's cement giants are under pressure amid benchmark indices inching higher. Aditya Birla group's UltraTech Cement, after reporting a decline of 2.6% in its December quarter's profits, is trading at Rs 1,867, down 2.21% on the Bombay Stock Exchange. While, Swiss major Holcim-owned ACC and Ambuja Cements continue to remain weak in today's trade. Poor sales, lower realisations and subdued demand growth for the building commodity have stoked weak sentiments on the counters.

The broader markets are trading on a listless note. The BSE mid-cap index is down 4 points at 7,161 while, the small-cap index has advanced 12 points to 7,382 levels.