Markets remain range-bound, realty leads the sectoral pack

Indian markets are not showing any headway in the early noon session, the major indices are moving around the neutral line, sometimes dipping in red and soon witnessing bouts of buying, but there is no major movement and the trade continues to remain volatile. The market is not moving in the new week despite the government getting decisive victory in both Houses on the issue of allowing 51% FDI in multi-brand retail. On the street, there is buzz in the high beta realty sector that has once again acquired the top slot of gainers, followed by another rate sensitive banking, however other sectors are not showing much movement and the auto sector was holding gains despite the report that domestic car sales fell by 8.25 per cent to 158,257 units in November this year compared to 172,493 units in the same month last year. On the other hand, the metal and consumer durables continue to witness profit booking.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 19,454.36 up by 30.26 points or 0.16% after trading in a range of 19,478.01 and 19,393.68. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 declines on the index.

The broader indices were outperforming the benchmarks; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.46% and Small cap index has gained 0.42%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.02%, Bankex up by 0.37%, Healthcare up by 0.25%, Power up by 0.25% and PSU was up by 0.21%, while Metal down by 0.50%, Consumer Durables down by 0.50%, Oil & Gas down by 0.17%, TECk down by 0.15% and IT down by 0.04% were the losers on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC up by 2.39%, Cipla up by 1.52%, Wipro up by 1.34%, BHEL up by 1.11% and Tata Steel was up by 1.08%.

On the flip side, Sterlite Inds down by 1.73%, TCS down by 1.49%, Hindalco down by 1.13%, Jindal Steel down by 0.76% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.73% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, ahead of the mid-quarter review of the monetary policy on December 18, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn said, inflation continues to be the primary concern for the central bank. The statement comes in the backdrop of GDP growth in the second quarter of current fiscal declining to 5.3%, prompting demands for a rate cut by the apex bank, in order to boost the economy.

While addressing an event, Gokarn said RBI should not do anything that provide some short-term stimulus to growth but also raises the risk of longer term inflation. By adding further he said the RBI should not fall victim to trying out something opposite if one set of actions, in this case the anti-inflationary stance, was not working.

To contain inflation, the RBI has announced 13-consecutive rate hikes since March 2010. However, inflation is still above the RBI's 5-percent comfort levels. In last policy announcement, RBI had left the short-term lending rates unchanged at 8 percent. However, the RBI is expecting that the inflation will start trending down in fourth quarter of FY13 from its peak of 7.5%.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,915.75, up by 8.35 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 5,919.95 and 5,894.20. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were HDFC up by 2.37%, BoB up by 1.84%, HCL Tech up by 1.75%, DLF up by 1.70% and Reliance Infra up by 1.64%

On the flip side, IDFC down by 2.31%, SesaGoa down by 2.05%, Cairn down by 1.61%, TCS down by 1.295 and Hindalco down by 1.17% were the top losers on the Nifty.

Majority of the Asian indices were trading in the green; Shanghai Composite was up by 1.05%, Hang Seng gained 0.28%, Jakarta Composite was higher by 0.02%, KLSE Composite was up by 0.72%, Nikkei 225 gained 0.07% and Straits Times was up by 0.65%.

On the other hand, Seoul Composite was marginally down by 0.04 points and Taiwan Weighted was trading lower by 0.43%.