Markets close with modest gains

It was again a dull session, with the Indian markets moving in a range whole day and closed on a positive note. The Sensex up 76 points and the Nifty up 26 points
Headlines for the day
January inflation at 6.55% vs 7.47% in December
Archies, Hanung Toys gain on Valentine's day
Tata Motors hits 52-week high after Q3 results
JP Associates Q3 net profit down 12%
HDIL Q3 consolidated net profit down 32%




Indian indices
The Indian markets were rangebound today and closed the session with modest gains. Buying in capital goods, realty, auto, banking, consumer durables and metal stocks helped markets to stay in green. January inflation falling to 2-year low also led the upmove. Recovery in European stocks further lifted markets.
Sensex movement: The Sensex started the trade 5 points lower at 17767 and soon touched an intraday low of 17743. The index turned volatile and remained rangebound with a positive bias as the session progressed. In the late trade, the index touched an intraday high of 17890 as rate sensitives support. The Sensex settled 76 points higher at 17849 and the Nifty closed at 5416, up by 26 points.
Market sentiment
The market breadth stood in favour of advances. Of the 3008 stocks traded on the BSE, 1619 (53.82%) rose, 1269 (42.19%) fell and 120 (3.99%) remained unchanged.
Viewing volumes
An integrated infrastructure development company - Lanco Infratech was traded the most, with over 2.34 crore shares changing hands on the BSE. Following that a real estate development company - HDIL (0.87 crore shares), industrial finance company - IFCI (0.75 crore shares), wind turbine major - Suzlon Energy (0.75 crore shares) and major Indian telecommunication company - Reliance Communications (0.69 crore shares).
Sectoral & stock screening
Only two sectors fell out of 13. Top gainers - BSE CG gained by 2.30%, BSE Realty jumped by 2.29% and BSE Auto advanced by 2.14%. Losers - BSE HC fell by 0.57% and BSE Oil & Gas down by 0.21%.
Among 'A' group stocks, top three gainers - Lanco Infratech up by 16.77%, Jain Irrigation Systems up by 9.14% and Alstom Projects India up by 8.95%. Losers - Cipla down by 6%, Adani Enterprises down by 5.80% and Manappuram Finance down by 5.76%.
Global Indices
The European stocks rose on Tuesday (February 14, 2012) as German investor confidence unexpectedly rose, offsetting downgrades of six euro-area countries by Moody’s Investors Service.
The Asian shares ended on a mixed note on Tuesday, as a surprise move by the Bank of Japan to expand its asset-purchase program and expectations for further monetary policy easing in India helped offset worries over sovereign ratings downgrades in the euro zone to some extent.
The US stock index futures pointed to a slightly lower open for equities on Wall Street on Tuesday.