Sensex range-bound; realty, metals gain

SOURCE:ECONOMICTIMES

Indian equities were moving in a narrow range after a positive opening on Thursday. Lack of cues from domestic markets and nervousness in
the international markets kept the traders away from taking any fresh positions. Realty and metal stocks looked strong while FMCG and pharma stocks declined.

India's inflation for the week ended February 7 is expected to have fallen to 4 per cent against 4.39 per cent previous week. Any further fall from the expectations may provide some room for traders to spike up the market.

"Nifty will continue to see 2740~2750 and then 2705 levels as intraday support. On higher side any move above 2800 may continue to see profit booking with 2820 as most important hurdle as of now. Market players may await inflation data before taking any directive action. Low inflation may trigger a positive rally however as mentioned earlier volumes will continue to remain a major cause of concern. Strict stop losses are absolute must for all short term positions," said Reliance Money report.

At 10:30 am, Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex was at 9058.92, up 43.74 points or 0.49 per cent. The index touched an intra-day high of 9111.95 and low of 9034.90.

National Stock Exchange's Nifty was at 2787.90, 11.75 points or 0.42 per cent higher. The broader index touched a high of 2802.15 and low of 2773.75 in trade so far.

"Our market has corrected significantly after the interim budget as expectations were unfulfilled. The situation in the US remains grim and the recession will continue to deepen. Today, we expect the market to open flat but some profit booking in the later part of the day is not ruled out," said Religare report.

Amongst the sectoral indices, BSE Realty Index was up 1.66 per cent, BSE Metal Index moved up 1.17 per cent, BSE Capital Goods Index gained 1.03 per cent. BSE FMCG Index was down 0.24 per cent and BSE Healthcare Index slipped 0.14 per cent.

Mahindra & Mahindra (3.32%), HDFC (1.96%), Grasim Industries (1.84%), Maruti Suzuki (1.73%) and DLF (1.73%) were the top Sensex gainers.

Hindustan Unilever (-1.28%), Bharti Airtel (-0.48%), Infosys Technologies (-0.14%), Sun Pharmaceuticals (-0.12%) and ONGC (-0.03%) were the only losers.

Market breadth was positive on the BSE with 918 advances and 570 declines.

Meanwhile, equities across the Asia-Pacific too painted a mixed picture as investors remained wary due to deepening recession worries in the United States and Japan. The Nikkei was up 0.84 per cent, Hang Seng slipped 0.41 per cent, Straits Times fell 0.91 per cent and Kospi was up 0.41 per cent.