Swinging Sensex ends flat

The key Indian stock indices ended almost unchanged at the end of a choppy session. The market opened with a positive bias and managed to recover for a brief period post the RBI rate hike which was on expected lines. However, the indices retreated from day's high and turned volatile before closing flat.



"Realty shares were the biggest loser today after the RBI announced a trio of measures to check spiraling property prices and pre-empt any possible asset bubble in the sector. Some Auto shares also softened amid concerns that hardening interest rates could hurt sales," says Amar Ambani, Head of Research (India Private Clients) - IIFL.

The RBI hiked the repo rate and the reverse repo rates by 25 basis points each as part of its continuous efforts to contain high inflation in a rapidly growing economy. This was the sixth rate hike by the RBI this year.

The RBI left its FY11 GDP growth and inflation projections unchanged at 8.5% and 5.5%, respectively. It also kept the money supply and credit growth estimates steady at 17% nad 20%, respectively.

The BSE Sensex ended almost flat and close at 20,346. The NSE Nifty ended flat close at 6,119.

Barring the BSE Realty, Oil & Gas and the Auto index all the other sectoral indices ended in the red. BSE Consumer Durables index was the top gainer, the index gained 1.7%, the BSE Capital Goods index gained 1.4% and BSE IT index gained 0.6%.

The broader indices ended with modest gains, the BSE Mid-Cap index ended higher by 0.4% and BSE Small-Cap index added 0.2%.

The European indices were trading in the positive terrain, the DAX in Germany was up 0.3%, the CAC 40 index in France was up 0.3% and FTSE index was up 0.8%.

Outside the frontline indices, the big gainers in the broader market were GE Shipping, RCF, Torrent Power and SCI. On the other hand, losers included IndusInd Bank, Jain Irrigation and Bosch.