Sensex ends flat with negative bias; JP Asso, ONGC, SBI drop

There has been a lull in the market over the past few days, with the key indices hovering in a narrow trading band. Traded volumes have tapered off substantially, reflecting a general lack of interest among market players. This lackluster trend may persist for a while before there is any material improvement in the sentiment.

``Another area of concern is tepid FII inflows, which have eased off in the past few days. One must avoid taking large bets and market-wide call at this juncture and wait for the market to break out of the current range. Stick to a stock specific action but beware of companies with dodgy background,`` said Amar Ambani, Head of Research - IIFL.

At the close, the 30-share benchmark index, BSE Sensex ended flat with a decline of 9.39 points or 0.05% at 18,384.90, 19 components posting drop. Meanwhile, the broad based NSE Nifty fell by 5.80 or 0.10% at 5,521.05 with 36 components registering drop.

Sensex Movers

State Bank Of India contributed fall of 10.83 points in the Sensex. It was followed by Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (10.76 points), Housing Development Finance Corporation (7.41 points), Infosys Technologies (6.39 points) and I C I C I Bank (4.82 points).

However, Reliance Industries contributed rise of 15.01 points in the Sensex. It was followed by Larsen & Toubro (14.87 points), NTPC (6.28 points), Tata Consultancy Services (4.96 points) and Bharat Heavy Electricals (3.73 points).

Major gainers in the 30-share index were NTPC (1.74%), Larsen & Toubro (1.27%), Bharat Heavy Electricals (0.91%), Reliance Industries (0.71%), Tata Consultancy Services (0.59%), and H D F C Bank (0.24%).

On the other hand, Jaiprakash Associates (1.85%), Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (1.80%), State Bank Of India (1.31%), Hero Honda Motors (1.29%), Reliance Communications (1.27%), and Reliance Energy (0.87%) were the major losers in the Sensex.

Mid & Small-cap Space

The BSE Midcap settled lower 8.02 points or 0.08% at 6,921.59 however the Bse Smallcap gained 6.85 points or 0.08% at 8,326.35 at the closing.

The major losers in the BSE Midcap were A2Z Maintenance & Engineering Services (4.07%), Anant Raj Industries (1.39%), Amtek Auto (0.73%), Andhra Bank (0.72%) and Apollo Hospitals Enterprise (0.39%).

The major gainers in the BSE Smallcap were INEOS ABS (India) (11.74%), Ahluwalia Contracts (India) (4.33%), Ajanta Pharma (1.62%), Genesys International Corporation (1.39%) and Acropetal Technologies (0.24%).

Sectors in Limelight

The Auto index was at 8,662.43, down by 49.45 points or by 0.57%. The major losers were Exide Industries (2.62%), Bharat Forge (1.1%), Amtek Auto (0.73%), Apollo Tyres (0.28%) and Bajaj Auto (0.2%).

The HC index was at 6,337.22, down by 20.62 points or by 0.32%. The major losers were Lupin (1.1%), Dr Reddy`S Laboratories (0.78%), Apollo Hospitals Enterprise (0.39%), Glaxo SmithKline Pharmaceuticals (0.23%) and Glenmark Pharmaceutical (0.11%).

The IPO index was at 1,796.31, down by 4.95 points or by 0.27%. The major losers were Aster Silicates (2.6%), Aqua Logistics (2.04%), Claris Lifesciences (1.24%), Adani Power (0.49%) and Indiabulls Power (0.49%).

On the other hand, the Consumer Durables index was at 6,740.13, up by 95.89 points or by 1.44%. The major gainers were Bajaj Electricals (2.78%), Titan Industries (2.56%), Rajesh Exports (1.23%), Gitanjali Gems (0.4%) and Videocon Industries (0.05%).

Market Breadth

Market breadth was negative with 1,406 advances against 1,440 declines.

Value and Volume Toppers

Aanjaneya Lifecare topped the value chart on the BSE with a turnover of Rs. 1,037.33 million. It was followed by Infrastructure Development Finance Company (Rs. 950.11 million), Tata Motors (Rs. 422.79 million) and Tata Coffee (Rs. 415.78 million).

The volume chart was led by Himachal Futuristic Communications with trades of over 14.98 million shares. It was followed by Infrastructure Development Finance Company (7.08 million), Future Ventures India (4.25 million) and Delta Corp (3.58 million).