Sensex struggles in insipid session

The Indian markets ended on a flat note at the end of a lackluster trading session, as investors turned cautious ahead of a crucial week for the debt-plagued eurozone. The Government's flip-flop on the FDI in retail issue also dampened the mood slightly with retail stocks particularly taking a hit in today's trade.

Markets traded with a negative bias throughout the day. The NSE Nifty recovered after hitting an intra-day low of 5002. It managed to hold on to the crucial 5,000 level even as the India VIX jumped by over 4%.



The BSE Metals, Consumer Durables, FMCG and Realty indexes among the major laggards. BSE Power, Capital Goods and PSU indices were among the notable gainers today. The BSE Mid-Cap and the BSE Small-Cap indices finished nearly unchanged.

The advance-decline ratio was slightly negative, and trading volume was tad low ahead of tomorrow's public holiday and the important EU Summit on Friday.

Finally, the BSE Sensex ended at 16,805, down 41 points. It had earlier touched a day's high of 16,863 and a day's low of 16,691. It opened at 16,812. The NSE Nifty closed at 5,039, down 11 points.

J P Associat, Axis Bank, NTPC, BHEL, PNB, SBIN, Cairn, Maruti, ONGC, IDFC, Infosys, Hindalco, L&T, GAIL, Wipro, Ambuja Cement, Reliance Comm, TCS and Sesa Goa are among the leading gainers.

While, HCL Tech, SAIL, Reliance Power, Tata Steel, STER, Sun Pharma, Ranbaxy, ITC, Hero Motocorp, Power Grid, Bajaj Auto, Reliance Infra, HDFC, Siemens and Jindal Steel are among the laggards on the BSE and NSE.

"Retail stocks fell amid reports that the Centre has put the proposed opening of retail to FDI in cold storage. The parliament, which has been paralysed during the ongoing winter session, will resume on Wednesday. It is likely to be a stormy affair yet again. There was buzz of a possible cut in CRR by the RBI due to tight liquidity ahead of the advance tax outflows. The central bank is unlikely to oblige before its policy meet in the middle of this month.

Globally, though US seems to be okay. The focus this week will be on Europe as lots of important developments are lined up. The biggest of them all will be the EU Summit on Dec. 9," says Amar Ambani, Head of Research, IIFL.

In global action, barring China, Singapore and Taiwan, most other Asian markets finished higher amid optimism that European leaders will finally be able to set aside political differences and thrash out a comprehensive plan to address the region's credit crisis.

US stock market futures were pointing to a higher opening, tracking similar gains for European stock markets.

European stock benchmarks rose today as Italy’s government adopted new austerity measures and as investors awaited the outcome of a meeting between the German and French leaders.

Italian government bonds advanced today, pulling the 10-year yield down under 6%.

Bank shares were among the top gainers in Europe amid growing hope that EU leaders will accept a proposal for a more closer fiscal integration among euro-zone nations at a Brussels summit on Friday.

Domestically, India's service sector bounced back in November, expanding for the first time in two months, as new business jumped despite stubborn inflation, high interest rates and a global slowdown, a private survey showed today.

The Business Activity Index stood at 53.2 in November from 49.1 in October, HSBC Holdings and Markit Economics said on Monday.

Any reading above the 50 mark implies growth. In September, the index had contracted for the first time in more than two years to 49.8.

US stocks finished flat on Friday after the government reported that the world's largest economy created 120,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate fell to 8.6%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average recorded its best point performance in three years.

Most equity markets in the world surged last week after top central banks moved to ease tension in European money markets and China surprised with a cut in reserve ratios