Sensex, Nifty close flat; ICICI, Axis up on RBI policy eve

Benchmarks Sensex and Nifty rolled out a dull trading day, void of any action ahead of an action-packed week. The 30-share BSE Sensex and 50-share NSE Nifty closed absolutely flat at 20103.35 and 6074.85 respectively.

While select largecap stocks in auto, banks and realty found takers, midcap index saw some meaningful movement, signifying investor interest in picking up smashed-out stocks.

In the auto space, Tata Motors and Hero MotoCorp gained 2.72 percent and 1.97 percent respectively,  ICICI Bank and Axis Bank (perked by share sale news)  were the frontrunners in the banking space with 1.62 percent and 2.38 percent rise respectively. Public sector banks have largely remained subdued although the market is positioned for a rate cut tomorrow . The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will release its macroeconomic policy in an hour from now.

In the realty pack, DLF had been the top largecap pick and Prestige Estate remained a midcap favourite. Both stocks were up over 3 percent.

Today, oil and gas space found barely any takers; ONGC and Reliance were the top losers while Cairn and GAIL were gainers.

Midcaps performed better than its counterparts. India Infoline (5.22 percent), Radico Khaitan (4.98 percent), Redington ( 3.89 percent), and MCX India (3.70 percent) made good gains.  HDIL languished in the red.

Equity benchmarks continue to languish in afternoon trade, even select stocks notch smart gains for themselves.

At 13.40 hrs IST, the Sensex is down 3.82 points or 0.02 percent at 20099.71, and the Nifty down 2.20 points or 0.04 percent at 6072.45.

All eyes are the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) ahead of its credit policy tomorrow. Analysts are divided whether the central bank will finally given in the finance ministry and cut rates. While most of the private sector banks are up, public sector banks have given up their early gains.

India's largest lender SBI is down marginally (-0.13 percent); giving it company Bank of Baroda (-0.90 percent), Canara Bank (-1.34 percent) and IndusInd Bank (-0.30 percent)

Among the top gainers on the Sensex: Sterlite Ind (2.18 percent), Wipro (1.93 percent), Hero Motocorp (1.75 percent), Hindalco (1.59 percent) and Tata Motors (1.48 percent)

About 1412 shares have advanced, 1179 shares declined, and 806 shares are unchanged.

Despite strong support from Wall Street, Europe and Asia, Indian indices have been performing on a tepid note. Bank stocks have found support ahead of Reserve Bank of India's policy review on Tuesday. Steet is anticipating at least a 25 basis point cut in benchmark rates.

At 11.10 AM, the Sensex was up 8.53 points at 20112.06, and the Nifty up 0.15 points or 0.00% at 6074.80. Midcaps have regained some of its lost field after the battering it received last week.

Banks like SBI, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra edged up between 0.36 percent and less than 1 percent ahead of RBI's monetary policy review. Midcap banks were down marginally. Bonds were seen rallying in expectation of a rate cut tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the euro moved near an 11-month high against the dollar on Monday on mounting signs of recovering economic confidence in Europe, while the yen slipped to a 2-1/2-year low versus the dollar on expectations of more monetary easing in Japan.

Hero MotoCorp (178 percent), Mahindra and Mahindra ( 1.71 percent), GAIL (1.56 percent), Wipro (1.47 percent) and Maruti Suzuki (1.23 percent) were the top performers on the Sensex. Maruti has been a lead performer on the bourses and UBS upgraded the stock to 'buy' from neutral', citing the benefits from a weakening Japanese yen

HDIL continued to stay down over 1 percent although buying was seen in real estate stocks like DLF, Prestige Estate and Shobha Developer.

The BSE Sensex is up 0.16 percent and the Nifty is up 0.14 percent.

Bank stocks gain ahead of Reserve Bank of India's policy review on Tuesday, anticipating at least a 25 basis point cut in benchmark rates.

ICICI Bank gains 0.69 percent while HDFC Bank is up 0.17 percent.

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd gains 1.59 percent after it said on Friday its third quarter profit more than doubled. UBS upgraded the stock to 'buy' from neutral', citing the benefits from a weakening Japanese yen.

However, oil and gas stocks fall on profit-taking, with Reliance Industries down 1.26 percent and Oil and Natural Gas Corp falling 0.84 percent.

Equity benchmarks opened flat dotted with little red on sectors like power, oil & gas and FMCG stocks. Sensex opened 60 points up but gave up a bit of its gains. Nifty opened barely 2 points up from Friday close.

At 09.21 AM, the Sensex was trading up 25.27 points at 20128.80, and the Nifty up 6.30 points at 6080.95.

Maruti continued its run from Friday and was up 1.89 percent in the first trade. Other gainers include DLF (1.81 percent), Ranbaxy (1.33 percent) and Lupin (1.06 percent). The banking bunch too were trading in the green dominated by PNB, State Bank of India, Kotak Mahindra and IDFC.

Index heavyweight Hindustan Lever was trading at Rs 472.20 down 0.62% from its previous close of Rs 475.15. Other losers include NTPC, Reliance and ONGC.

After the recent carnage, midcap index held up in the morning tyrade and was up over 1 percent. Jet Airways and sundry banking stocks were trading in the green. HDIL and Persistent were down around 3 percent.