Markets close flat; metals gain, capital goods, realty weak

20 March 2009

The benchmark indices closed flat, after trading marginally lower for major part of the session. The markets were volatile throughout the day. The Nifty turned back above the 2800 mark in the last one hour of the trade.

Metals, ONGC, HDFC, HUL, Reliance Communication, Ambuja Cements, HDFC Bank, Idea Cellular, Wipro, Tata Power, Reliance Infrastructure and to some extent Bharti Airtel helped the markets to recover in the second half of the session.

However, the sell-off was seen in capital goods stocks, ICICI Bank, SBI, Reliance Industries, Tata Motors, Maruti, TCS, DLF and ITC. The Broader indices were mixed in the trade today. Flows were muted at FIIs desk.

The 30-share BSE Sensex has touched an intraday low of 8,867.13, before closing the day at 8,966.68, down 0.39% or 35.07 points. The 50-share NSE Nifty was down just 0.10 points, to settle at 2807.05, after hitting a day's low of 2773.65.

Volumes dropped by Rs 7,700 crore compared to previous session. Total traded turnover stood at Rs 55,356.79 crore. This includes Rs 8,775.10 crore from NSE cash segment, Rs 43,647.51 crore from NSE F&O and the balance Rs 2,934.18 crore from BSE cash segment.

Capital Goods, major banking, auto, pharma and realty players kept the markets under pressure while metals outperformed.