Market ends flat

After registering gains for the last two sessions the Sensex opened lower today, tracking weak global cues. The market remained subdued despite the fact that inflation rate fell to 5.44% for the week ended May 5 from 5.66% in the previous week. The Sensex gained some momentum in the mid morning trades but after exhibiting some volatile moves the index slipped into the red again on heavy selling in auto and metal stocks. The Sensex touched the day's low of 14201, down 99 points to its previous close. The resumption of buying in the afternoon saw the Sensex move into positive territory and the index gained some strength. But, lack of buying interest kept the market subdued and the Sensex closed the session on a flat note with a gain of four points at 14303. The Nifty closed the session down five points at 4215.

The market breadth was negative, with the losers outpacing the gainers in the ratio of 1.35:1. Of the 2,669stocks that traded on the BSE, 1,491 stocks declined, 1,106 stocks advanced and 72 stocks ended unchanged. Most of the sectoral indices ended in the green. The BSE Auto index dropped 1.86% at 4910 followed by the BSE Metal index (down 1.18% at 10242) and the BSE PSU index (down 0.72% at 6699).

Among the Sensex stocks, banking major HDFC Bank was the leading gainer and soared 3.45% at Rs1,072. ICICI Bank advanced 1.60% at Rs951. Among the other stocks ITC jumped 1.18% at Rs167, Hero Honda shot up by 1.17% at Rs687, while Reliance, Satyam Computers, Ranbaxy, Cipla, Bharti Airtel and L&T closed with marginal gains. Among the laggards Bajaj Auto tumbled 8.54% at Rs2,287, Gujarat Ambuja shed 3.40% at Rs119, NTPC declined by 1.89% at Rs156 and Dr Reddy's Lab lost 1.79% at Rs666.

Over 1.09 crore Bhagwati Banquets & Hotels shares changed hands on the BSE followed by Reliance Natural Resources (87.16 lakh shares), Nagarjuna Fertilizers (86.45 lakh shares), IFCI (69.31 lakh shares) and Development Credit Bank (68.13 lakh shares).

Bajaj Auto registered a turnover of Rs252 crore on the BSE followed by United Sprits (Rs174 crore), Glaxo (Rs132 crore), Reliance Industries (Rs130 crore) and Unitech (Rs121 crore).