Market pulls down shutters with no major action; listless trade ends

The Indian indices shut shop in trade today marginally higher amid rangebound trade. The Sensex closed near the day's high, rising 42 points to 16918 while the Nifty gained 10 points to settle at 5128. Major Headlines Wipro Q1 results below expectation, guidance disappoints HUL Q1 results ahead of expectations Lupin Q1 cons net profit jumps 33% (QoQ) LIC Housing Q1 net profit declines Petrol price hiked by 70 paise per litre Indian Indices The key indices traded in the positive terrain today, after snapping yesterday's losses. The markets witnessed lackluster trade on the second day of the week and closed today's trading session in the green zone. There were no global or domestic cues to drive markets today hence markets ended flat with no major action witnessed for the day. Volatility was high in trade today. The Sensex closed near the day's high, rising 42 points, while the Nifty gained 10 points in trade today. Movement of the Indian indices for the day: After witnessing its sharpest decline on Monday, the Indian equity markets were back into consolidation mode today. This trend continued till the mid-afternoon session when volatility was seen in local indices. Profit booking was witnessed and indices swung like a pendulum between the positive and negative terrain. The key indices hit their intraday highs and intraday lows in the afternoon session and closed today's trade with marginal gains oscillating on both sides of the equator. Sectors like FMCG, CD, Oil & Gas, HC, PSU, Metal, Bankex, Realty and Power led some support to the markets while CG, IT, TECk and Auto added pressure. The major heavyweight gainers were - HUL, RIL, ONGC, Bharti Airtel, ITC, ICICI Bank and Sterlite. The broader markets too ended the trade on a positive note. The BSE Midcap index rose by 0.16%, while the BSE smallcap index was up by 0.13% in trade today. The Sensex closed at 16918.08, up by 40.73 points and the Nifty surged 10.25 points to close at 5128.20. Earnings of the Day: 1. Hindustan Unilever the top gainer among the Sensex stocks, surged after reporting 112% year-on-year (yoy) jump in net profit at Rs1,331 crore for the quarter ended June 2012, on back of land deals. At end of the day stock closed 7.50% higher. 2. Wipro being the top loser among the 30 Sensex stocks today, slipped after it reported lower than expected 18% rise in quarterly net profit. Analysts were expecting the net profit to be around Rs1,600 crore. After market hours, the stock closed 2.93% down. 3. Ashok Leyland declined after its net profit fell 22.40% to Rs66.93 crore on 19.84% increase in total income to Rs3020.21 crore in Q1 June 2012 over Q1 June 2011. The stock closed 2.10% lower in trade today. 4. Tata Global Beverages traded higher on reporting a robust 53% year-on-year (yoy) growth in consolidated operating profit at Rs181 crore for the quarter ended June 2012. The stock closed 6.79% higher in today's trade. Following are the stocks/ sectors which were in news today: 1. Oil Marketing Companies hiked petrol price by 70 paise per litre yesterday (July 23, 2012). 2. Top car maker Maruti Suzuki bounced back on short covering, as it rose over 2% after losing more than 11% since Thursday (July 19, 2012) due to stoppage of work at its Manesar plant. The stock closed 2.34% higher in trade today. 3. Sugar stocks like Balrampur Chini, Sakthi Sugars, Bajaj Hindusthan and Dhampur Sugar rallied between 4-5%. Looking at currency, the Indian Rupee is trading firm at 56.02 against the US dollar. Market sentiment The market breadth stood in favor of declines. Of the 2917 stocks traded on the BSE, 1391 (47.69%) rose, 1396 (47.86%) fell and 130 (4.46%) stocks remained unchanged. Sectoral & stock screening Among the 13 sectoral indices four sectors closed in red zone while remaining nine sectors closed in green zone. Top Gainers: BSE FMCG rose by 1.91%, BSE CD surged by 1.16%, BSE Oil&Gas gained by 0.84%. Top Losers: BSE CG down by 1.09%, BSE IT fell by 0.67%, BSE TEck down by 0.30%. Among 'A' group stocks, top three gainers were- HUL rose by 7.50%, Tata Global up by 6.79% and United Breweries surged by 5.24%. Top three losers were- HDIL declined by 4.66%, IRB Infra down by 3.67% and Pipavav Defence fell by 3.57%. Global signals: After Spain woes, globally every market is closely watching development in the Eurozone. Asian shares witnessed poor trade in all of its indices. Japan's Nikkei share average held at a six-week low on Tuesday, although improved Chinese data helped pare early losses that were triggered by fears that Spain may need a financial bailout. European equities stayed weaker today and sent the euro sliding towards two-year lows after steep declines in the previous day as euro zone concerns focused on Spain's high borrowing costs, poor surveys and Moody's move to cut Germany's rating outlook offset positive Chinese manufacturing numbers. US stock index futures pointed towards a lower opening at the Wall Street on Tuesday.