Sensex, Nifty moves in tight band; Realty stocks major gainers

Indian equity markets were trading flat in the late morning session amid alternate bouts of buying and selling in cautious trades. The BSE benchmark Sensex is up marginally in positive territory after a highly listless start this morning, while Nifty slipped into negative territory. Investors stayed back from making strong positions and preferred to wait for some clear signals, ahead of the presentation of the Union Budget round the corner. In currency markets, rupee appreciated marginally against dollar in the late morning session, amid fresh selling of the US currency by exporters. On sectoral front, Realty stocks traded in green on strong buying at the counter. Select IT, oil and capital goods were trading in green, while FMCG, auto and PSU stocks were trading in red. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed on Friday as investors took some comfort in the Federal Reserve's commitment to ultra-soft monetary policy for now, but weak US and European data capped the gains. Back home, the market breadth favoring negative trend; there were 1,153 shares on the losing side against 1,142 shares on the gaining side while 143 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 19,333.81, up by 8.45 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 19,366.64 and 19,289.83. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 declines on the index.

The broader indices were also trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.15% and Small cap index was up by 0.16%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Realty up by 1.80%, TECk up by 1.23%, IT up by 1.02%, Oil & Gas up by 0.98% and Capital Goods up by 0.40%, while FMCG down by 1.03%, Auto down 0.77%, Consumer Durables down 0.50%, PSU down 0.10% and Metal down 0.08% were the top losers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 2.52%, Wipro up by 2.12%, Sun Pharma up by 2.10%, Jindal Steel up by 1.49% and ONGC up by 1.29%.

On the flip side, HDFC was down by 2.30%, Tata Motors was down by 2.18%, Hindustan Unilever was down by 1.53%, Coal India was down by 1.47% and ITC was down by 1.37% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, looking for cooperation of all sections of the House ahead of parliament session, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that there is the need of credible action from all to ensure that the country is least affected by the formidable challenges posed by the global economic slowdown. He appealed to MPs to engage in a productive and constructive debate, as the house panel was meeting against the backdrop of global economic slowdown, which has also affected the country.

Singh said 'in this context, the way we conduct the financial business now before parliament will be a crucial determinant of our country's ability to cope with the formidable challenges our country faces.’ By adding, he said that we are looking forward for a very productive, constructive session of Parliament as our country's people expect Parliament to do.

Prime Minister’s comments came against the backdrop of Opposition parties, preparing to target the government on price rise, crimes against women, chopper scam and a host of other issues. The last two sessions were often disrupted by opposition MPs protesting against corruption and government's reforms plans.

The Parliament has begun its key budget session on February, 21 where the government will seek to push several controversial economic reforms bills.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,850.95 down by 1.30 points or 0.02% after trading in a range of 5,862.30 and 5,835.80. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were DLF up by 2.97%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.62%, Wipro up by 2.25%, Sun Pharma up by 1.89% and Jindal Steel up by 1.59%.

On the flip side, JP Associate down by 2.58%, HDFC down by 2.33%, Tata Motors down by 2.12%, HUL down by 1.67% and Coal India down by 1.45%, were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading mixed; Shanghai Composite 3.44%, Hang Seng added 0.07%, KLSE Composite gained 0.14%, Nikkei 225 up by 0.66%. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was down by 0.02%, Straits Times contracted 0.19%, KOSPI Composite decreased 0.13% and Taiwan Weighted was down by 0.12%.