No follow-up rally after RBI policy; Sensex, Nifty end flat

Key equity benchmarks continued to trade within a tight range, ending Wednesday's trade marginally in the green after Reliance Industries recovered from a four-session losing streak, while ICICI Bank rose a day ahead of its quarterly earnings results.

While the market was somewhat under pressure on investors clearing their positions before the monthly expiry in the derivatives segment, a better global trend supported the market. Sentiment also remained weak after the RBI disappointed investors by staying cautious on future monetary easing.

The BSE Sensex gained 0.07 percent, while the 50-share Nifty rose 0.1 percent.

"Sensex gained marginally by 14 points to close at above 20,000. Markets were range bound and action was stock specific ahead of January F&O expiry. PSU banks witnessed sharp declines after lower than expected quarterly result and lack of continuity in the future direction of RBI interest rate policy," said Shubham Agarwal, Associate VP & Sr Technical Equities Analyst, Motilal Oswal Securities Ltd.

Overseas investors were keen in the regional stocks as rupee strengthened over three-month high at Rs 53.36 on the back of increased dollar inflow and upcoming disinvestment in public sector companies.

The market was supported on firming Asian trend and higher opening in Europe following a powerful performance on Wall Street, where the Dow closed near its record high.

Reliance Industries, a market trend-setter and index heavy advanced 1.87 per cent to Rs 899.05, ended a four-day losing streak.

Private lender ICICI Bank shot up by 1.11 per cent to Rs 1,214.25 ahead of quarterly earning results and Reserve Bank of India cutting key interest rate cut.

The BSE and NSE benchmarks turned flat owing to profit booking. At 12.42 PM, the Sensex fell a marginal 6.31 points to 19984.59, and the Nifty was trading flat at 6049.95. DLF and Axis Bank continue to rule the 50-stock Nifty with 3.34 percent and 2.32 percent gains.

Bajaj Auto and Maruti Suzuki gave up most of their morning gains and were trading with 0.5 -sub 1 percent gains. GAIL, PNB, Tata Power, ITC and Bank of Baroda were the top five Nifty losers at this hour.

Banks have not shown much movement since yesterday, although the Reserve Bank announced double bonanza by easing policy rate and the CRR; the latter will infuse sufficient liquidity into the system.

Crompton Greaves has been a big volume raker on the bourses; it fell sharply in the morning following dissapointing result and a "sell" call by Macquaries, but recovered when the company's management, in a conference call, assured of a stable quarter ahead. The stocks was quoting at Rs 108.05, down Rs 0.55, or 0.51%

In the midcap space, HDIL continued its downward journey with a 4 percent cut. Amara Raja Batteries fell on profit booking after a very successful quartely numbers.

Benchmarks indices have been trading flat to positive with support from across the board. After Tuesday's nervoursness, investors and traders appear confident resulting in a cease in profit taking. Support also came from global markets; Asian markets are up. Rupee continues to head higher tracking the gains in Euro.

At 11.03 AM, the Sensex was up 39.98 points at 20030.88, and the Nifty moved up 9.95 points at 6059.85. Index heavyweight Hindustan Lever was trading at Rs 477.65 up 1.95% and was the top gainer on the Sensex. On the other side, ITC and HDFC were noticeable losers; each trading with over 1 percent cut

In the Oil and Gas space, IOC was the big winner with 2 percent gains. Heavyweight Reliance Industries was trading at Rs 898.50 up 1.81% and ONGC paced up 1.43 percent.

Crompton Greaves which saw a sharp decline in the morning, recovered much of its losses. The stock was trading with a cut of 0.69 percent.

Equity markets opened stable with support from ICICI Bank and Reliance ands Maruti Suzuki. These stocks were up over 1 percent in the first trade. Other winners include, Hero MotoCorp,  Bajaj Auto, HCL Tech, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel. The midcap index opened up over 1 percent amid strong volumes to outperform its largecap counterparts.

At 09.24 AM, the Sensex was up 43.95 points at 20034.85, and the Nifty rose 17.10 points to 6067.00.

Glenmark Pharma reacted well to its results and opened up over 1 percent. Crompton Greaves positioned itself as a big laggard post its muted numbers. The stock tanked 6.5 percent. IVRCL picked up 2 percent after yesterday's carnage.

Top gainers on the Nifty were DLF (up 1.65 percent), Axis Bank (1.59 percent), Maruti Suzuki (1.30 percent), Ambuja Cements (1.24 percent).

Banking stocks which slipped after initial spike, regained investor interest. SBI, PNB and Bank of Baroda were trading with near 1 percent gains.

Nalco, PFC, IOB, Titan Inds, Essar Shipping, Godrej Properties, Balrampur Chini, Central Bank and Dena Bank will announce their results today.

Globall cues have been good with US markets trended higher ahead FOMC decision.  The S&P 500 is on track to post its best monthly performance since October 2011 and its best January since 1997 as investors poured USD 55 billion in new cash into stock mutual funds and exchange-traded funds in January, the biggest monthly inflow on record. The Dow Jones industrial average has been flirting with 14,000, a level it hasn't seen since October 2007.