Sensex lacklustre; Sterlite Inds, SAIL, Cipla, L&T up

At 10.32 hrs IST, the Nifty was trading flat. It was a quiet session for the markets as Nifty was hovering around 5900 mark. The action was mainly seen in selective midcap stocks. Buying was seen in metal, consumer durables, PSU and capital goods stocks. Selling was seen in realty and auto stocks.

The Sensex was up 187.11 points or 0.96% at 19696.00, and the Nifty was up 6.50 points or 0.11% at 5914.15. About 1529 shares advanced, 757 shares declined, and 1174 shares remain unchanged.

n the largecap space, Sterlite Industries, SAIL, Cipla, Larsen and BPCL were up 1-2%. Hero Honda, Axis Bank, Mahindra and Mahindra, Bharti Airtel and HDFC Bank were down 1-3%.

Index heavyweight Reliance was trading at Rs 1,046.50 up 0.45% from its previous close of Rs 1,041.80. Refinery major HPCL was trading at Rs 404.05 up 1.6% from its previous close of Rs 397.70. Tech major Infosys was trading at Rs 3,145.50 down 0.1% from its previous close of Rs 3,148.50.

Hindustan Lever was trading at Rs 299.70 down 0.17% from its previous close of Rs 300.20. Cigarette major ITC was trading at Rs 167.80 up 0.36% from its previous close of Rs 167.20.

Top gainers on the BSE Midcap: Hindustan Construction, Petronet LNG, EID Parry, Gujarat State Petronet and Coromandel Int were up 4-6%.

Top losers on the BSE Midcap: Money Matters, S Kumars Nation, Birla Corp, 3M India and Shree Global Tr were down 2-5%.

Top gainers on the BSE Smallcap: Religare Technova, SE Investments, Oscar Inv, Gitanjali Gems and Zylog Systems were up 7-16%.

Top losers on the BSE Smallcap: Spectacle Industries, Surana Industries, Rollatainers, Sujana Towers and Urja Global were down 5-10%.

Nifty tests 5900; realty, auto dip ahead of inflation data

At 09.19 hrs IST, the Nifty opened on a flat note and was trading above 5900. Rate sensitive sectors like realty, auto and banks were trading weak ahead of inflation data today. Buying was seen in metal stocks. The base metals were trading strong post weakness in the dollar index.

The broader markets opened on a positive note. BSE Midcap and Smallcap index were up 0.62% and 0.47% respectively.

The Sensex was up 52 points at 19744.68, and the Nifty was up 14.20 points or 0.24% at 5921.85. About 735 shares advanced, 289 shares declined, and 2436 shares remain unchanged.

In the largecap space, Sterlite Industries was the top gainer with close to 1.7% gain. Reliance Communications, BPCL, Hindalco and Cipla were up 1-1.6%. On the losing side, Hero Honda, IDFC, Mahindra and Mahindra, HUL and ICICI Bank were down 0.2-1%.

Index heavyweight Reliance was trading at Rs 1,046.40 up 0.44% from its previous close of Rs 1,041.80. Refinery major HPCL was trading at Rs 401.80 up 1.03% from its previous close of Rs 397.70. Tech major Infosys was trading at Rs 3,130.20 down 0.58% from its previous close of Rs 3,148.50.

Hindustan Lever was trading at Rs 299.05 down 0.38% from its previous close of Rs 300.20. Cigarette major ITC was trading at Rs 167.20 down 0% from its previous close of Rs 167.20.

Top gainers on the BSE Midcap: Bajaj Finance, Blue Dart, Hathway Cable, Gammon India and Himadri Chemicals were up 4-7%.

Top losers on the BSE Midcap: Shree Global Tr, Money Matters, Birla Corp, S Kumars Nation and Nava Bharat Ventures were down

Top gainers on the BSE Smallcap: Religare Technova, Marathon Nextgen, Oscar Inv, Jindal Cotex and Marg were up 6-16%.

Top losers on the BSE Smallcap: Vakrangee, Mah Polybutenes, Spectacle Ind and Bodal Chemicals were down 7-16%.

Asian market were trading flat to positive.

In the US markets, stocks started off on a positive note and strengthened throughout much of the

session, but gave off gains in the final hour of trading. The selloff prevented the Dow from closing at a 2-year high after it was trading above its November 5 close within the final 10 minutes of the session.