Sensex ends flat; capital goods, IT gain

Mumbai: The benchmarks as well as broader markets closed flat on first day of the week. It was under pressure in the first half of trade due to weak Asian cues, tracking a series of downgrades in Europe by rating agency S&P. Oil & gas sector too weighed down the market. However, the market seemed to have factored in all negatives and it managed to turn positive in the second half, supported by technology, capital goods, auto and metals stocks. Even, European markets were flat after initial sell-off.

The Sensex rose 34.74 points, to close at 16,189.36 and the Nifty went up 7.9 points to 4,873.90 after hitting an intra-day high of 4,880.80 and low of 4,827.05.

Sudarshan Sukhani of s2analytics.com feels the Nifty will probably cross the 5000 mark soon if it holds the 4800. "My target for the Nifty, if this run continues, is about 5071 level," he said.

The Sensex rose 34.74 points, to close at 16,189.36 and the Nifty went up 7.9 points to 4,873.90 after hitting an intra-day high of 4,880.80 and low of 4,827.05.

In the economic data, inflation for the month of December stood at 9.47 per cent as against 9.11 per cent in November. That was on expected lines; CNBC-TV18 poll saw it at 7.41 per cent.

Technology majors Infosys, TCS and Wipro moved up 1.5-2 per cent ahead of TCS' third quarter numbers on Tuesday. Short covering was another reason that led the rally in these stocks.

Capital goods sector topped the buying list; shares of BHEL shot up 3.67 per cent and L&T gained 2.56 per cent.

Among banks and financials, shares of country's largest lender SBI surged 2.2 per cent and ICICI Bank was up just 0.24 per cent whereas HDFC and HDFC Bank fell 1-1.7 per cent.

In the auto space, Maruti rallied nearly 3 per cent ahead of likely vehicles' price hike. Tata Motors went up 2.2 per cent while Bajaj Auto and M&M were marginally lower.

Among others, ITC and Bharti Airtel were up 1-1.5 per cent. In the metal space, Tata Steel and Sterlte jumped 1.5-2.5 per cent while JSPL, Hindalco and Coal India lost 0.5-0.9 per cent.

However, the fall in index heavyweights Reliance Industries and ONGC limited the upside; respective stocks tumbled 2.55 per cent and 1.25 per cent.

HUL, NTPC, Cipla and DLF were down 1.5-2.4 per cent.

The market breadth was almost neutral; about 1410 shares advanced while 1340 shares declined on the BSE.

On the global front, Asian markets closed 1-1.7 per cent lower on the spate of downgrades in nine eurozone countries by rating agency S&P last weekend. S&P said long-term outlook on France, Italy, Spain and Portugal was negative while long-term ratings stable on Germany & Slovakia.

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