Mkts ranged; SBI, DLF, ICICI, Tata Steel, L&T gain

The markets are trading rangebound. The Nifty is swinging between 2693.65 and 2620.60. SBI, DLF, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, L&T, PNB, SAIL, Maruti, Reliance Infrastructure, HDFC, and Tata Motors are trying to support the markets. However, selling continues in Infosys, ONGC, Bharti, Wipro, NTPC, RIL, ITC, Reliance Communications, Hero Honda, Hindalco, Ranbaxy Laboratories, Satyam, BHEL, and TCS.

The Sensex fell 41 points to 8,697 and the Nifty lost 19 points to 2,638, at 2:07 hours IST. However, BSE Midcap Index gained 1% and Small Cap Index rose 0.3%.

Market breadth is mixed; about 1414 shares have advanced while 1335 shares have declined. Nearly 449 shares are unchanged.

On the global front, European markets are trading weak. FTSE 100 fell 0.60 points to 4,098. CAC and DAX tumbled 1.10% and 1.49% to 3,118 and 4,464, respectively.

Markets @ 12:42 pm : Mkts choppy; RIL seeing high volatility

The benchmark indices are still trading volatile. Buying is seen in banking, metal, power, realty and select capital goods stocks. Midcap and smallcap stocks are on buyers' radar. However, selling continues in ONGC, Bharti, Infosys, Wipro, Idea, HUL, Hero Honda, Sun Pharma, Satyam, and Hindalco. Reliance Industries is the most volatile stock in today's session.

The Sensex rose 20 points to 8,759 and the Nifty gained 0.65 points at 2,658, at 12:42 hours IST. BSE Midcap Index shot up nearly 1.5% and Small Cap Index rose 0.7%.

Among the frontliners, Tata Steel, DLF, Suzlon Energy, SBI and ICICI Bank rose 4-8.5%.

Market breadth is slightly positive; about 1424 shares have advanced while 1329 shares have declined. Nearly 445 shares are unchanged.

In the midcap space, GMDC, Advanta, Kingfisher Airlines, LIC Housing Finance and Shoppers Stop jumped 8-14%. Among the small cap stocks, Force Motors, Piramal Glass, Indo Tech Transformers, Sparsh BPO Svcs and Techno Electric gained 10-20%.

Markets @ 11:32 am : Mkts volatile; Nifty hovering around 2650

The benchmark indices are trading volatile. Buying is seen in SBI, Reliance Industries, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, SAIL, L&T, HDFC, TCS, Sterlite, Suzlon Energy, DLF, Unitech, and Tata Motors. However, Bharti, ONGC, Infosys, ITC, Wipro, HUL, Idea, Hero Honda, Satyam, Ambuja Cements, Hindalco, Maruti, Tata Power, and M&M are pulling the indices down.

The Sensex lost 28 points to 8,711 and the Nifty fell 13.5 points to 2,644, at 11:32 hours IST. BSE Midcap gained 1% and Small Cap Index rose marginally.

Market breadth is slightly weak; about 1301 shares have advanced while 1444 shares have declined. Nearly 453 shares are unchanged.

Markets @ 10:31 am : Mkts weak; Bharti, ONGC, NTPC, Infosys, TCS down

The markets are trading weak and are seeing some volatility. Telecom, technology, FMCG, power, select oil and capital goods stocks are under pressure. However, major metal stocks are on the buyers' radar. The Nifty is trading below 2650 level.

The Sensex fell 82 points to 8,657 and the Nifty lost 29 points to 2,628, at 10:31 hours IST. BSE Midcap and Small Cap indices gained marginally.

Bharti Airtel, ONGC, NTPC, Infosys, TCS, ITC, HDFC Bank, BHEL, DLF, Maruti, HDFC, Tata Power, Ambuja Cements, Hindalco, M&M and Reliance Communication are weak. However, Tata Steel, Sterlite Industries, SAIL, Suzlon Energy, Tata Motors and Unitech are gainers.

Amit Khurana, Head-Equity, Collins Stewart, expects the markets to remain rangebound. “The markets will be unable to break this range for quite sometime. With the stimulus packages that the government is likely to announce, the market may hold within its range. However, the market would take time to discount any news flows going forward.”

Market breadth is in favour of declines; about 1242 shares have advanced while 1509 shares have declined. Nearly 447 shares are unchanged.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mixed. Shanghai, Hang Seng, Nikkei and Straits Times rose 1-1.6%. However, Kospi and Taiwan fell 0.5-1%.

Markets @ 9:57 am : Mkts choppy; RIL, SBI, Tata Steel, L&T, SAIL up

The markets bounced back in early trade following positive global cues, but immediately turned volatile. The Nifty is hovering around 2650 level.

At 9:57 am, the Sensex rose 21 points to 8,760 and the Nifty gained 2.7 points at 2,660.50. CNX Midcap 100 went up 29 points to 3,258.

Unitech, Tata Steel, Reliance Infrastructure, Reliance Industries, Tata Motors, Suzlon Energy, HDFC, Jaiprakash Associates, ICICI Bank, DLF, SAIL, L&T, SBI and Dr Reddys Labs are gainers.

However, ONGC, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, HDFC Bank, ITC, Wipro, TCS, Idea, Maruti, Sun Pharma and Ambuja Cements are under pressure.

Dr Reddys Labs jumped nearly 4%, as German drug maker AOK shortlisted the company for supply of several drugs. AOK had called for tenders for supply of 64 products.

Tata Steel rose 5.5% after its consolidated numbers. Its net sales increased to Rs 44,198.97 crore from Rs 32424.9 crore and net profit was up at Rs 4,703.64 crore versus Rs 3342.4 crore. Margins shot up to 17.6% versus 15.2%.

US markets rallied, rebounding from the market's worst tumble since October, after General Electric announced plans to maintain its dividend and the Federal Reserve extended terms of three emergency loan programs.

On closing bell, Dow Jones ended up 270 points at 8419, Nasdaq ended up 51 points at 1449 while the S&P 500 index rose 33 points at 848.

Market Cues:

US markets rally 4%, Asian markets mixed

NSE multiplies lot sizes of 243 F&O stocks by 2-14X to bring contract sizes above Rs 2 lakh

SEBI's move on cross margining may lead to higher arbitrage volumes

FIIs net buy $38.1 million in equity on December 1: SEBI

MFs net sell Rs 75 crore in equity on December 1: SEBI

NSE F&O Open Interest up Rs 616 crore at Rs 39,540 crore

F&O Cues:

Futures Open Interest down Rs 217 crore, Options Open Int up Rs 833 crore

Nifty Futures shed 8 lakh shares in Open Interest, at 5-point discount

Nifty Open Int Put-Call ratio at 1.05 Vs 1.03

Nifty Puts add 16 lakh, Calls add 11.8 lakh shares in Open Int

Nifty 2500 Put adds 6.8 lakh shares in Open Int

Nifty 2600 Put adds 6.2 lakh shares in Open Int

Nifty 2600 Call adds 5.7 lakh shares in Open Int

Nifty 2700 Call adds 4.9 lakh shares in Open Int

Stock Futures add 1.8 crore shares in Open Int

Mkts close flat amid choppy trade; Realty, bank dip over 3%

It was a lacklustre session for the markets, as it remained choppy throughout the day, after sharp rally seen in Friday's trade. The benchmark indices closed flat. The Nifty has tried number of times to get back above 2700 mark and in the final trade, it managed to close above the same level. Global cues were mixed, as Asian markets ended weak while European indices were trading sharply higher. US markets futures were also trading in green.

The Sensex shed just 12.09 points or 0.14%, to close at 8,903.12, after swinging between an intraday high of 9,042.02 and low of 8,701.93. However, the 50-share NSE Nifty shut shop at 2708.25, up 0.55% or 14.80 points over previous close.

The BSE Midcap Index was down 14.37 points or 0.49% at 2,902.29 and the Small Cap Index fell 26.80 points or 0.79% to 3,363.96.

Among the frontliners, Satyam, ICICI Bank, DLF, M&M, SBI, Unitech, Suzlon Energy and Tata Communication were down 3-9%. However, Reliance Infrastructure, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Power, TCS, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Power, GAIL, NALCO, Idea Cellular and HCL Tech rose 2.5-6%.

Market breadth was weak; about 1,136 shares have advanced while 1,490 shares have declined. Nearly 570 shares are unchanged.

Rate sensitives remained under pressure in today's trade. Bank and Realty indices closed lower by 3%.

BSE Realty Index was down by 62.12 points or 3.78% at 1,583.30. Unitech plunged 9.11% and DLF fell 3.81%.

Bankex fell 144.22 points or 3.14% to 4,454.68. ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, SBI, HDFC Bank and PNB lost 2.7-3.9%.

Metal stocks like JSW Steel, Jindal Saw, Tata Steel, Sterlite Industries, JSL, SAIL and Hindalco were losers. BSE Metal Index lost 67.87 points or 1.55% to 4,309.73.

Capital Goods Index ended flat at 6,554.72. BHEL gained 1.56% while L&T lost 0.20%.

However, power stocks like Power Index gained 30.80 points or 1.94% at 1,619.44. Reliance Power, Reliance Infrastructure, Tata Power, Power Grid Corp, Torrent Power and NTPC rose 2-6%. However, Suzlon Energy was down 5.63%.

BSE Oil & Gas Index was up by 75.78 points or 1.37% at 5,626.67. Reliance Industries was up 1.56% while ONGC fell 1.61%. Oil marketing companies like IOC, HPCL and BPCL gained 3-7%. Crude was trading at around USD 50 to a barrel on the NYMEX.

FMCG Index rose 20.66 points or 1.09% to 1,908.41. United Spirits, Marico, Britannia, Godrej Consumer and ITC were gainers.

Telecom stocks like Idea Cellular was up 4.19% and Bharti Airtel gained 2.73%. However, Tata Communication lost 3.91% and Reliance Communication fell 0.63%.

Pharma stocks like Healthcare Index went up by 17.40 points or 0.62% to 2,830.10. Dr Reddys Labs, Wockhardt, Cipla and Glenmark ended in green.

Auto Index gained 9.23 points or 0.40% at 2,314.35. Maruti Suzuki and Hero Honda were up over 3%. However, M&M fell 3%.

IT Index ended at 2,462.95, up 0.22% or 5.40 points over previous close. HCL Tech, TCS, Wipro and Infosys were gainers while Tech Mahindra and Satyam were losers.

Among the midcap stocks, Bhushan, Sadbhav Engg, Redington, Adhunik Metalik and Bombay Rayon lost 9-13%.

In the small cap space, Mukta Arts, PVP Ventures, Electrotherm, Nahar Industrial and Arihant Foundation plunged 12-16.5%.

Total traded turnoved stood at 57,920.55 crore. This includes Rs 8,500 crore from NSE Cash segment, Rs 46,218.94 crore NSE F&O and the balance Rs 3,201.61 crore from BSE Cash segment.

On the global front, Asian markets finished weak. Shanghai lost 3.67% and Kospi fell 3.35%. Straits Times went down 2.52% and Hang Seng fell 1.59%. Jakarta and Taiwan closed marginally in red. Japan's Nikkei was shut today.

However, European markets were trading sharply higher, as Citigroup received rescue package. FTSE 100 was up 175.61 points or 4.64% to 3,956.57, at 3:42 hours IST. CAC 40 gained 140.69 points or 4.88% at 3,021.95 and DAX surged 163.32 points or 3.96% to 4,290.73.

Dow Jones Futures was up 79 points at 8,115 and the Nasdaq Futures gained 14.25 points at 1,105, at 3:42 hours IST.

Citigroup received USD 20 billion cash and USD 306 billion loan guarantee from US government.

StanChart planned to raise USD 2.7 billion via rights issue. Its rights issue price fixed at 390 pence per share, 48.7% discount to last closing price.

President-elect Barrack Obama is expected to announce his economic team. US existing home sales will be announced as well.