Midcaps, Small caps run

Frontline equities ended a lackluster session lower on Tuesday as traders booked profits towards the close tracking credit worries in Europe.

Local traders turned cautious after Morgan Stanley said earnings for the UK banking industry might have peaked as access to funding is getting more difficult.

The 50-stock Nifty ended marginally lower at 5861.55, down 0.11 per cent or 5 points. Intra-day, the index touched a high of 5897.25 and low of 5840.30.

The 30-share Sensex settled at 19,529.50, down 0.38 per cent or 74 points after rising to a high of 19,707.86. The low was 19,482.34.

“The Sensex is trading broadly within the 18,000-20,000-22,000 range, which narrowed today, and is expected to narrow further over the next few sessions. The overall trend is positive, but activity will be muted in frontline shares in the first half of December,” said Birendrakumar Singh, technical, analyst at Religare Securities.

Singh expects the rally in mid-caps to continue as the frontliners consolidate. He recommends buying momentum scrips in the fertilizer, cement and textile space.

The BSE Mid-cap Index ended 1.6 per cent higher and the CNX Mid-cap Index was up 1.23 per cent.

Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals (up 18.58%), MICO (16.92%), Godrej Consumer Products (14.29%) and Maharashtra Seamless (12.37%) topped the list of mid-cap gainers.

Among the large-caps, Tata Steel (up 4.08%), Mahindra & Mahindra (2.79%), BHEL (1.96%), Ambuja Cements (1.22%), Larsen & Toubro (1.21%) and Hindalco Industries (1.15%) were the biggest gainers.

But heavyweights like Reliance Industries (down 2.33%), Tata Consultancy Services (2.22%), ICICI Bank (2.13%) and ONGC (1.28%) proved a disappointment.