Close: Flame of hopes cooled by waves of selling !

Post the deep fall yesterday, Indian markets started off strong on the back of global stability and traded ranged in green but ended on a flat note. At the previous trading hour indices consolidated the gains which posted earlier. Profit booing seen in index heavy weights and sectors like Automobile, Banks, Engineering, FMCG, Energy and PSU. Some of the companies have declared the advance tax numbers which seems to be good, expect the market to bounce back. But the worry is inflation, expected to be around 6.20%-6.30% for this week. That?s not particularly good; this will be a constant worry for the markets. Asian Markets ended in green, European Markets currently trading strong.

Quarter 4 Advance Tax numbers: SBI Rs 690 cr vs Rs 1036 cr (yoy), ACC Rs 160 cr vs Rs 50 cr (yoy), Century Tex Rs 24 cr vs Rs 30 cr (yoy), Hindalco Rs 265 cr vs Rs 171 cr (yoy), Grasim Rs 200 cr vs Rs 105 cr (yoy).

Sensex closed up by 14 points at 12543.85. It is helped up by gains in Dr Reddys (674.9,+4 percent), ITC (147.35,+3 percent), Infosys (2078.2,+3 percent), Hindalco (130.65,+2 percent) and TCS (1236.2,+2 percent). Restricting the gains are SBI (921.9,-3 percent), HDFC (1513.55,-3 percent), Tata Motors (725.85,-3 percent), ACC (731.65,-2 percent) and RCVL (390.65,-2 percent)

French nuclear reactor maker Areva has raised its offer for REpower to 140 euros per share after seizing more than 30% of the German wind-turbine maker for which a bid has also been placed by Indian wind turbine maker Suzlon Energy. Areva announced it and agreed to acquire additional shares of REpower Systems AG for a purchase price of 140 euros per REpower share. The move comes after REpower recommended an offer worth 126 euros per share from Suzlon which had in turn trumped a previous offer from Areva worth 105 euros. This is a big negative for Suzlon, because this means Suzlon will continue to bid higher and this bid is important for Suzlon.

The Metal stocks ended in green. The JSW group plans to diversify from its metals business into manufacture and marketing of cement. This marks the second recent diversification for the Jindal group. The mine to metals group is examining the feasibility of setting up a cement plant at a cost of Rs130 cr at its steel facility in the Bellary district of Karnataka. The move to diversify into cement in addition to mining and metals, ports and industrial gases is an attempt by the Jindals to capitalize on the growth of the core and manufacturing sectors in an economy growing at more than 9% per annum. The cement foray will also allow the group to utilize a by product of steel making slag, which comprises impurities that are removed while converting ore to steel in furnaces. With the proposed expansion of its steel plant, the company will be producing more slag. This waste product is currently sold at Rs 250 per tonne to other cement makers in the area. With more slag available in the future, the company wants to use it to manufacture a higher value added product to boost its margins and revenues. JSW Steel has been in a massive expansion phase having outlined plans to invest Rs 620 cr over the next couple of years for a variety of projects. JSW ended marginally up and its peer Tata Steel ended marginally up, SAIL ended up 2.38%.

Energy stocks ended in mix for the day. ONGC is planning to enter into a comprehensive technical collaboration deal with British Petroleum (BP) for deepwater exploration blocks held by the latter. BP has also offered its expertise to ONGC for jointly undertaking the exploration and development of the coal bed methane (CBM) blocks held by ONGC. BP will help ONGC develop an understanding of the likely potential for exploring deepwater blocks by re-processing its seismic and well data. Any future commercial participation will be based on the results of this study. Following the joint study and subject to government approval, BP and ONGC will jointly develop and explore the GK-DW-1 block in the Kutch basin where the two have already chalked out a work programme. The deal highlights the fact that ONGC lacks sufficient expertise in the exploration of the deep-water blocks. However, with BP's collaboration the exploration and development activity will speed-up for ONGC. The stock ended marginally down and its peer RIL also closed marginally down.

Technically Speaking: It was a ranged session for the whole day before closing. Sensex touched intraday high of 12789 and low of 12510. Sensex is moving in a range of 12900 and 12500. A breakout on either side could give a big move. Resistance lies at 12714, 12891. Support at 12435, 12333. Market turnover stood at Rs 3824 cr. Overall breadth was in favor of Advancers where the Advancers stood at 1458, Decliners stood at 1112.