Markets remain flat, Tata Steel top loser

Key share indices are trading flat amid range bound trade weighed by Metal and IT sectors. At 1130 hrs, the Sensex was down 20 points at 17,194 and the Nifty slipped 6 points at 5,222 levels.

Meanwhile, the rupee rose by 37 paise to trade at fresh one-week high of 54.78 against the dollar in early trade today at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market on increased dollar selling by banks and exporters.

On the global front, Asian markets are also trading on a flat note as fears of an economic hard landing in China subsided, with last week's softer growth data within expectations and Premier Wen Jiabao on Sunday raising the prospects of more policy stimulus if needed. Hang Seng, Nikkei and Shanghai were trading marginally higher while Shanghai Composite was down.

Back home, on the macro economic front inflation numbers for the month of June are to be announced later in the day today.

On the sectoral front, BSE Metal index is down by almost 1.5% followed by counters like IT, Realty, Capital Goods and Power, all declining by nearly 15 each. However, BSE Healthcare index has gained by over 1%.

Tata Steel is the top Sensex loser, down over 3% on turning ex-dividend today. The stock opened at Rs 418 and hit a low of Rs 414 on the National Stock Exchange. Among other metal shares, Jindal Steel, Sterlite and Hindalco have melted between 1-3%.

From the IT space, Infosys Limited is trading lower by 1.7% at Rs 2,190 on the National Stock Exchange in morning trades, its lowest level since September 2011. The stock has underperformed the market by declining 11.2% compared to 2% fall in benchmark Sensex, after the company revised its dollar revenue guidance downwards to at least 5% from 8-10% earlier for the fiscal FY2013. TCS and Wipro have slumped over 1% each.

Capital Goods majors L&T and BHEL have plunged between 0.4-1%.

Other notable losers include GAIL India, Tata Power, HDFC Bank, ONGC and RIL.

On the gaining side, pharma shares like Cipla, Dr Reddy’s Lab and Sun Pharma have gained between 1-2%.

Bharti Airtel is the top Sensex gainer, up nearly 3%.

The broader markets are trading on a marginally negative note. BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices have slipped between 0.1-0.2%.

Among other shares, Andhra Pradesh Paper Mills has tanked 7% to Rs 298 on reporting a loss of Rs 15.81 crore for the second quarter ended June 30, 2012, as against a profit of Rs 16.30 crore in a year ago quarter.

Lloyds Steel Industries has locked upper circuit of 5% at Rs 10.61 after Miglani Group made open offer to shareholders for buying 26% stake in the company at Rs 11.65, which is premium to the current price.

The overall market breadth in BSE remains marginally negative with 1,179 shares declining and 1,147 shares advancing.