Sensex flat amid seesaw trade; Infosys, SBI, Reliance down

The BSE Sensex shed all its gains as it was trading marginally lower compared to 100 points gains in morning trade. However, European markets extended upmove a bit after Italy successfully sold bonds worth euro 3.5 billion. France's CAC rose 0.5% while Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE went up 0.7% each.

The BSE benchmark was down 12.3 points to 17,220.25 and the NSE benchmark declined 6.7 points to 5,228.55, even after the Indian rupee gained 66 paise to 55.28 against the US dollar.

Infosys, country's second largest software services exporter extended losses, falling 1.5% while its rival TCS gained 1.8% after strong numbers in Q1.

Top lender State Bank of India too slipped further, declining 1% and ICICI Bank was down just 0.17% whereas HDFC Bank was off day's high after results, gaining 0.9% compared to intraday spike of 2%.

Metals stocks like Jindal Steel, Hindalco Industries and Sterlite Industries dropped 1.5-2%.

Private power producer Tata Power slipped 1.4%. Top car maker Maruti Suzuki went down 1% and commercial vehicle manufacturer Tata Motors was down 0.4%.

State-owned oil & gas producer ONGC and top telecom operator Bharti Airtel gained 0.8% each.

Two-wheeler major Hero Motocorp rose 1.4%.

In the second line shares, Sintex Industries shot up 2.5% after better than expected profit margin in Q1.

Jain Irrigation, Oracle, United Phosphorous, Piramal Healthcare, Oil India and Mphasis were up 1-1.8%.

Indian equity benchmarks were trading off day's high due to fall in Reliance Industries and Infosys. State Bank of India and ITC too were under pressure. However, the buying in HDFC Bank, TCS, HDFC and ONGC was quite supportive.

The BSE benchmark went up just 5.5 points to 17,238.03 while the NSE benchmark was down 0.55 points to 5,234.70. The Indian rupee extended recovery, appreciating by 60 paise to 55.33 against the US dollar.

Country's second largest software services exporter Infosys dropped 0.75% due to dismal performance in the quarter ended June 2012. However, its rival TCS stayed 1.77% higher after better than expected earnings in the first quarter.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries slipped 0.6% and top lender State Bank of India declined 0.4%. FMCG majors ITC and HUL were down 0.2-0.4%.

Among metals stocks, Jindal Steel tumbled over 2%. Tata Steel, Sterlite Industries and Hindalco were down 0.9-1.2%.

Private sector lender HDFC Bank remained on buyers' radar ahead of results.

Shares of HDFC, ONGC, Bharti Airtel, GAIL and Hero Motocorp gained 0.4-1%.

The market breadth was slightly in favour of advances; about 1356 shares advanced while 1221 shares declined on the BSE.

In the second line shares, SKS Microfinance dropped nearly 7% as the company is likely to incur loss in the first quarter of FY13.

Bajaj Corp, Motilal Oswal, Tube Investment, MTNL and SPARC rose 4-6%.

The 50-share NSE Nifty remained in a tight range of 5240-5260 since early trade as it was consolidating after a sharp fall in yesterday's trade. European markets opened higher; France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE went up over 0.4%.

The BSE benchmark rose 46 points to 17,278.35 and the NSE benchmark moved up 11.60 points to 5,246.85.

Infosys, India's No. 2 software services exporter continued to fall after disappointing first quarter numbers. The stock was down 0.67% after falling more than 8% in yesterday's trade. However, its rival TCS recouped losses, rising 1.7% today after better than expected numbers in June quarter.

Top lender State Bank of India declined just 0.17% whereas its rival ICICI Bank gained 0.5%. HDFC Bank rallied 1.4% ahead of quarterly earnings today.

FMCG majors ITC and HUL were marginally lower in afternoon trade. Among metals and mining stocks, Sterlite Industries, Tata Steel, Hindalco Industries and Coal India dropped with marginal losses while JSPL lost 1.5%.

Top car maker Maruti Suzuki declined 0.9% whereas utility vehicle manufacturer M&M and two-wheeler major Hero Motocorp were up around 1%.

Engineering and construction major by sales Larsen & Toubro and index heavyweight Reliance Industries were flat.

State-owned oil & gas producer ONGC rose 1% and housing finance company HDFC gained 0.6%.

Most active shares on exchanges were SBI, Infosys, TCS, United Spirits and Tata Motors.

The NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading higher amid volatility, but the broader markets continued to outperform benchmarks. The BSE Midcap Index rose 0.6% and Smallcap went up 0.75%.

The BSE benchmark moved up 70.91 points to 17,303.46 and the NSE benchmark was up 21.05 points at 5,256.30.

Country's largest lender ICICI Bank gained 0.66% while its rival HDFC Bank jumped 1.7% ahead of first quarter earnings today.

Software services exporter TCS went up 1.65%, though it came off day's high whereas Infosys dropped 0.7%.

State-owned oil & gas producer ONGC and top telecom operator Bharti Airtel were up 0.9% each.

Drug producer Cipla topped the buying list, rising 1.8%. Housing finance company HDFC, cigarette major ITC and oil & gas producer Reliance Industries were marginally higher.

However, Jindal Steel tanked 1.4%. Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy's Labs and Maruti were down over 0.5%.

In the second line shares, Bajaj Corp, Tube Investment, DB Corp, Motilal Oswal and SRF gained 5-12%.

Smallcaps like Surana Industries, Asian Hotel (W), Ruby Mills, Mangalore Chemical and Network 18 (Note: Web18, which owns Moneycontrol.com and Indiaearnings.com, belongs to the Network 18 Group) were up 6-10%.

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade higher with around 0.5% gains each led by buying interest in banks, oil & gas, capital goods and telecom stocks. TCS, country's second largest software services exporter, remained higher by more than 2% after its net profit rose higher than expected by 12% QoQ to Rs 3,280.5 crore in the quarter ended June 2012.

The BSE benchmark went up 80.72 points to 17,313.27 and the NSE benchmark gained 23 points at 5,258.25 amid volatility, but the broader markets outperformed benchmarks by a small margin. The BSE Midcap Index was up 0.6% and Smallcap up 0.8%.

The Indian rupee appreciated by 32 paise to 55.62 against the US dollar.

Private sector lender HDFC Bank climbed 1.6% ahead of its first quarter earnings. Analysts on average expect its profit after tax is likely to increase by whopping 30% year-on-year to Rs 1,411 crore for the quarter ended June 2012, according to CNBC-TV18 estimates.

Country's largest lenders State Bank of India and ICICI Bank were up 0.4% and 0.6%, respectively. Housing finance company HDFC went up 0.6% too.

Top telecom operator Bharti Airtel was up 1%. Oil & gas producers Reliance Industries and ONGC went up 0.4-0.7%.

Engineering and construction major by sales Larsen & Toubro rose 0.3%. State-owned power equipment manufacturer BHEL moved up 0.5%.

However, software bellwether Infosys fell another 0.6% due to weak set of numbers in Q1. Shares of Tata Motors, Maruti, HUL, Sun Pharma and JSPL were down 0.2-0.7%.

The market breadth remained strong; about three shares advanced for every share declining on the National Stock Exchange.

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty bounced back with more than 0.5% gains in early trade on Friday, after yesterday's sharp fall due to Infosys' Q1 results. Asian markets were sideways, even after a fall in US and European markets..

The BSE benchmark rose 95.77 points to 17,328.32 and the NSE benchmark gained 27.8 points at 5,263.

Country's largest software services exporter TCS shot up 3.5% after better than expected numbers for the quarter ended June 2012. Net profit grew by nearly 12% quarter-on-quarter to Rs 3280.5 crore, which was quite better results as compared to software bellwether Infosys (that disappointed the street yesterday).

 HCL Tech and Wipro moved up over 1% while Infosys lost 1.5% after losing more than 8% yesterday.

Among other largecaps, PNB, HDFC Bank, Ranbaxy Labs, Coal India, Tata Steel, L&T, DLF, Ambuja Cements and SAIL were on buyers' radar.

However, ITC and Pharma were down 0.3% each.

The CNX Midcap Index rose 17 points to 7,468. About two shares advanced for every share declining on the National Stock Exchange.

In the second line shares, MTNL went up 4% as sources said company will consider land bank sale & network leasing.

Bajaj Hindusthan and Balrampur Chini moved up 1.8% each.

Manappuram Finance, DCB and Hexaware were up 1.5-2%.

3i Infotech rallied 4.5% as company allotted 24.62 lakh shares to Goldman Sachs on July 12 on conversion of FCCBs.

UB Holdings, Kingfisher Airlines and United Spirits were up 1-2% whereas Mangalore Chemical was down 1%.

Aurobindo Pharma and Divis Labs declined 0.5-1% as AP Pollution Control Board asked 12 pharma units to shut down.

Sintex rose 0.5% ahead of quarterly numbers today.

Karnataka Bank was up over 1% on reports of merger with private bank.

On the global front, US and European markets closed lower yesterday. Euro fell below 1.22 against the US dollar.

Rating agency Moody's downgraded Italy sovereign by 2 notches to Baa2 from A3 and said the outlook was negative.