Key indices continue to gyrate in a narrow range
The key equity indices continued to gyrate in a narrow range with a negative bias in the mid-morning session as investors remained on the sidelines in the absence of any major trigger. The regional peers also remained in a somber mood within a tight range. Back home, sustained buying in consumer durables, banking and metal space helped the NSE???s 50-share Nifty to reclaim the crucial 5,400-mark at this point of time. Meanwhile, the up-side was capped by weakness in software, technology and fast moving consumer goods space. Two-wheeler maker — Hero Honda — was the major loser in trade, shedding around two and a half percent. Selling was triggered in the counter as the company???s June quarter net profit failed to meet the street expectations. The broader indices, however, continued to add some weight. The market breadth on the BSE was strong; there were 1592 shares on the gaining side against 946 shares on the losing side while 91 shares remained unchanged.
The BSE Sensex shed 18.24 points or 0.10% to 17,973.76. The index touched a high and a low of 17,981.06 and 17,913.15, respectively.
The BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices advanced 0.86% and 0.83%, respectively.
Consumer Durables (CD) up 0.75%, Bankex up 0.47%, Metal up 0.42%, Healthcare (HC) up 0.19% and Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) up 0.13% were the main gainers in the BSE sectoral space.
On the other hand, Information Technology (IT) down 0.53%, TECk down 0.42%, Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) down 0.26%, Realty down 0.23% and Auto down 0.18% were the main losers in the BSE sectoral space.
Meanwhile, providing a temporary relief to the customer and developers of the property, the Bombay High Court has approved a provisional stay on writ petition challenging the service tax levied by the union Government on under-construction buildings until next hearing on August 3.
A division bench of the Bombay High Court comprising Justice VC Daga and Justice SJ Kathawala has granted the stay on petition filed by Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry (MCHI), an umbrella of organisations of more than 500 developers, on July 23.
Earlier, as per the new services included under tax net, that came into effect from July 1, 2010, the buyers of the flat, under construction were required to pay about additional 2.5% as service tax on the total value.
SBI up 1.73%, M&M up 1.52%, Tata Steel up 1.44%, ACC up 0.87% and RIL up 0.80% were the major gainers on the Sensex.
On the flip side, Hero Honda down 2.36%, Tata Motors down 1.50%, ONGC down 1.17%, Wipro down 0.95% and Bharti Airtel down 0.90% were the major losers on the index.
Revival in India???s monsoon in the current week has resulted in good rainfall which was 38% higher than normal in the week to July 28, bouncing back from a 17% deficit in the previous week, aiding sowing operations across the country. Although, India is witnessing a sharp increase in monsoon activity in last couple of days, the overall rainfall still remains deficient with about 5% shortage for the current year.
The country received 94.3 millimetres of rainfall during Jul 22-28 against the 50-year average of 68.2 mm, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) data showed. ???Right now, the seasonal deficit (all India rainfall from 1 June-28 July) is 5%, and we expect it to improve further towards the end of this week,??? said D.S. Pai, director (forecasting), India Meteorological Department (IMD), Pune.
The S&P CNX Nifty declined by 7.15 points or 0.13% to 5,401.75. The index touched a high and a low of 5,413.25 and 5,382.80, respectively.
HCL Tech up 3.12%, Kotak Bank up 1.97%, Ranbaxy up 1.83%, Suzlon up 1.77% and SBI up 1.77% were the top gainers on the Nifty. On the other hand, Hero Honda down 2.79%, Siemens down 2.54%, GAIL down 2.20%, Tata Motors down 1.74% and Ambuja Cements down 1.54% were the top losers on the index.
Among other Asian indices, Shanghai Composite slipped 0.90%, Hang Seng trimmed 0.53%, Jakarta Composite shed 0.33%, KLSE Composite declined 0.08%, Nikkei 225 plummeted 1.42%, Straits Times decreased 0.47%, Seoul Composite slid 0.59% and Taiwan Weighted dropped 0.55%.
Gainers/Losers | Value/Volume Toppers | Advance/Declines | Block Deals | Bulk Deals
Did not find what you were looking for?
