Volatile session ends flat

The Indian markets closed a volatile session on a flat note. Sensex ended up by 43 points and Nifty rose 18 points.
Major headlines
Power Ministry to impose 19% duty on import duty on equipment
Jet Airways merges JetLite with Konnect
Gujarat NRE dips after Australia imposes 30% mining tax
Tata Motors to hike vehicle prices by up to Rs35K


Indian indices:
After a three-day break, the Indian markets closed today's trading session on a positive note. Buying in majority of the sectors helped markets while profit booking in auto stock capped the upside. Major heavyweight supporters were - HDFC Bank, ITC, RIL, TCS, SBI, HDFC, Sun Pharma. Negative opening of the European indices also weighed on the sentiments. Overall, it was a volatile session for the day.
The Sensex closed 43 points higher at 17316 and the Nifty settled at 5275, up by 18 points.
Market sentiment:
The market breadth stood in favour of declines. Of the 2999 stocks traded on the BSE, 1335 (44.51%) rose, 1542 (51.42%) fell and 122 (4.07%) remained unchanged.
Viewing volumes:
An integrated infrastructure development company - Lanco Infratech was traded the most, with over 0.75 crore shares changing hands on the BSE. Following that a real estate development company - HDIL (0.63 crore shares), Wind turbine major - Suzlon Energy (0.39 crore shares), a company engaged in power generation and setting up of power projects - Adani Power (0.34 crore shares) and an ADAG Group firm - Reliance Power (0.29 crore shares).
Sectoral & stock screening:
All the sectoral indices closed in positive except one - BSE Auto down by 1.50% Top three gainers were - BSE CD rose by 2.35%, BSE Realty surged by 1.44% and BSE FMCG up by 1.04%.
Among 'A' group stocks, top three gainers were - IRB Infrastructure Developers surged by 5.54%, Bata India up by 5.25% and TTK Prestige advanced by 5.19%. Top three losers were- Tata Motors declined by 4.21%, Adani Power down by 3.97%, and Thermax fell by 3.29%.
Global Indices:
The Asian stock markets were mostly lower on Tuesday (March 20, 2012) amid concerns that Chinese economic growth could slow down more than expected this year.
The European stock markets edged lower on Tuesday as investors eyed talks between Italy's government and unions on reforms.
The Stock index futures pointed to a lower opening on the Wall Street on Tuesday.
Market Outlook: In the US, Housing Starts will remain in focus on Tuesday.