Sensex, Nifty trade flat; marginally in green

Indian equities moved in a narrow range after a positive opening on the back of good cues from global peers in the late morning session. Sentiments have got some support on firming trend in the Asian region following overnight gains on the US market. On the global front, Asian markets rallied in early trade with Japanese Nikkei average climbing to a five and a half year high after the Bank of Japan (BOJ) concluding its two days meeting maintained its easing plan despite jitters over the recent volatility in bond markets, hoping it can prevent a renewed spike in yields by fine-tuning market operations.

Back home, the traders were seen piling up positions in IT, Teck and Metal while selling was seen in Realty and Oil & Gas sector. In scrip developments, sugar stocks like Shree Renuka Sugar, Bajaj Hindustan, Balrampur Chini Mills, EID Parry and Rana Sugars  was  trading in green after the Uttar Pradesh cabinet gave in to a long-standing demand by the sugar industry to extend stamp duty and land registration waivers to existing as well as new sugar mills. Technology companies gained as recent fall in the rupee is making the sector more attractive, although a U.S. immigration bill seen hurting the sector remains an uncertainty. The rupee hits a fresh near six-month low in opening trades.

In scrip specific actions, L&T, Thermax and NCC surged ahead of its results. JSW Ispat Steel gained after the company reported a standalone net profit of Rs 94.16 crore for the fourth quarter ended March, 2013. Tech Mahindra zoomed after the software exporter reported a 25 per cent increase in its consolidated net profit at Rs 377.24 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2013. Heidelberg Cement India soared after the cement major decided to sell its 0.6 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) cement grinding facility in Raigad to JSW Group 'as a going concern on slump sale basis' for an undisclosed sum. Prestige Estates Projects traded higher after the real estate firm reported more than two-fold jump in standalone net profit at Rs 89.03 crore for the fourth quarter of 2012-13. AstraZenecaPharma India dropped after the drug firm posted a net loss of Rs 18.57 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2013. JSW Energy slipped after the promoters of the company, Sangita Jindal will sell 2.82 crore shares, worth over Rs 190 crore, through the offer for sale (OFS) route on May 22. Ranbaxy dipped after the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) had been ordered to examine all the dossiers and drug applications on the basis of which approvals had been granted to Ranbaxy in the past.

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading just above their psychological 6,100 and 20,000 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was showing positive trend with advances to declines in ratio of 957: 761.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 20172.69, up by 61.08 points or 0.30% after trading in a range of 20220.35 and 20139.08. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.25% and Small cap index was up by 0.26%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, IT up by 1.01%, Teck up by 0.94%, Metal up by 0.58%, FMCG up by 0.55%, and Health Care up by 0.52% while, Realty down by 0.76% and Oil & Gas down by 0.08% were the losers on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Dr Reddys Lab up by 2.23%, Coal India up by 2.04%, Sun Pharma up by 1.94%, SBI up by 1.35% and ICICI Bank up by 0.95%. On the flip side, Gail India was down by 1.01%, Bajaj Auto was down by 0.84%, Hero MotoCorp was down by 0.73%,   HDFC Bank was down by 0.64% and  HDFC was down by 0.53% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, Oil minister M Veerappa Moily has asked the Vijay Kelkar panel to prepare a roadmap for switching over to market determined gas pricing at the end of 12th plan period. Minister has expanded the terms of reference (ToR) of the panel to prepare a roadmap for enhancing domestic production of oil and gas so as to substantially reduce the nation's import dependency by 2030.

In the new ToR, the panel has also been asked to suggest steps to be taken for enhancing oil and gas production from the unconventional as well as conventional energy sources. Further, the panel will suggest institutional mechanism for appraisal of the Indian sedimentary basins to the extent of 75 percent by 2015 and 100 percent by 2025. It will also recommend steps for development of gas transportation infrastructure for establishing countrywide market place. Meanwhile, the panel will have to submit its reports within six months. India currently imports 80 percent of its oil needs and about half of its natural gas requirement. 

The panel has also been asked to give views on the recommendations of Rangarajan Committee on moving from Production Sharing Contracts to revenue sharing contracts. Rangarajan panel had suggested that companies should be asked to bid upfront the amount of oil and gas they will share with the government for award of exploration acreage.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 6,129.05 up by 14.95 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 6,147.60 and 6,118.80. There were 29 stocks advancing against 20 declines while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were DR Reddy up by 2.01%, Coal India up by 1.90%, Sun Pharma up by 1.85%, HCL Tech up by 1.74% and SBI up by 1.45%. On the flip side, DLF down by 2.47%, JP Associate down by 1.69%, Ranbaxy down by 1.50%, IDFC down by 0.91% and GAIL down by 0.85% were the major losers on the index.

All the Asian equity indices were trading in green; Shanghai Composite rose 2.12 points or 0.09% to 2,307.24, Jakarta Composite increased 17.70 points or 0.34% to 5,206.46, KLSE Composite surged 16.77 points or 0.94% to 1,793.92, Nikkei 225 soared 285.30 points or 1.85% to 15,666.32, Straits Times jumped 16.89 points or 0.49% to 3,460.48, KOSPI Composite added 14.75 points or 0.74% to 1,995.89 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 0.77 points or 0.01% to 8,383.82.