Sensex ends flat despite positive global cues; Maruti jumps

Indian shares closed lacklustre session on a flat note on Monday as investors looked cautious ahead of winter session of parliament that would begin on Thursday. Global factors such as fiscal cliff, European credit crisis and Israel situation added to the woes.

The 50-share NSE Nifty fell 2.65 points to close at 5,571.40 after trading in a range of 5,549.25-5,592.75. Meanwhile, the 30-share BSE Sensex moved up 29.63 points to 18,339.

According to Vibhav Kapoor of IL&FS , if both events - the parliament session and the fiscal cliff in the US - turn out to be positive, then the market could push back to 5,800 levels by end of December.

Global markets gained today on hopes that some deal may be struck to avoid ''fiscal cliff'' in the US.

But global markets gained today on hopes that some deal may be struck to avoid ''fiscal cliff'' in the US. France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE rose over 1 percent.

Asian markets too closed higher. Nikkei rallied 1.41 percent on hopes of monetary easing. The Bank of Japan will announce its policy decision on Tuesday. Hang Seng was up 0.48 percent while Shanghai went up 0.11 percent.

India's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki surged nearly 4 percent . Sources say the company is in talks with their parent to really increase the exports of large components or the completely knocked-down (CKD) kits and maybe look at assembling some of the vehicles as well.

Top telecom operator Bharti Airtel gained for the fifth consecutive session, rising nearly 3 percent today and 12.5 percent in five sessions after 2G spectrum auction got over.

Cigarette major ITC rose 2.7 percent, extending gains in second half of trade. However, FMCG major Hindustan Unilever fell 0.8 percent.

Two-wheeler makers Hero Motocorp and Bajaj Auto were up 1.4 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively. Utility vehicle major Mahindra & Mahindra was up 1.6 percent.

Private sector lender HDFC Bank climbed 0.9 percent whereas its rivals State Bank of India and ICICI Bank lost 0.3-0.6 percent.

Top software services exporter TCS dropped 1.9 percent while its rival Infosys gained 0.77 percent.

Shares of HDFC and Larsen & Toubro slipped 1.2 percent each. Steel producer Tata Steel was down 1.6 percent and power producer Tata Power tumbled 2.5 percent.

In the second line shares, L&T Finance Holdings lost 10 percent on profit booking after rising over 40 percent in last 15 days.

Sintex Industries dropped 6 percent after the company set initial conversion price of Rs 75.60 for foreign currency convertible bonds worth USD 140 million. The price was much higher compared to current market price of Rs 60.

Tata Global Beverage tanked 5.5 percent on profit booking whereas SREI Infrastructure gained another 3.5 percent.

Honeywell Automation rallied 16 percent on delisting buzz .

The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were down 0.9 percent. Declining shares outnumbered advancing by 1762 to 1004 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The BSE Sensex stayed lacklustre since morning trade, but the broader markets were under pressure with the BSE Midcap losing 0.6 percent.

The 30-share BSE benchmark was up just 0.38 point to 18,309.75 and the 50-share NSE benchmark went up 7.5 points to 5,566.55.

Country's largest power producer NTPC rose 1.2 percent as the company commissioned its unit 5 of 500 MW of Rihand super thermal power station today. "With this the commercial capacity of Rihand STPS will reach 2500 MW and that of NTPC Group will be 37674 MW," the NTPC said in a release.

CNBC-TV18 learnt from sources that Honeywell Inc is considering delisting of its Indian subsidiary Honeywell Automation . Honeywell Auto India delisting is likely via reverse book build, sources say but the company said they would not comment on market speculation. Honeywell Asia Pacific Inc holds 81.24% stake in Indian arm.

Cigarette major ITC extended gains to 1.7 percent. Telecom operator Bharti Airtel maintained its uptrend since last week, gaining 3 percent today.

Top car maker Maruti Suzuki surged further, rising 4.11 percent. Sources say Maruti is eyeing to ramp up export of components to Suzuki plants . It is in talks to export completely knocked-down (CKD) kits for assembly in its Asian plants. This is a move to increase its export volumes to counter yen exposure, sources add.

Utility vehicle major Mahindra & Mahindra and two-wheeler major Hero Motocorp were up 1 percent each.

Shares of Reliance Industries, HDFC, TCS, Larsen & Toubro, Sterlite Industries, Tata Steel and Hindalco were down 1 percent each.

India's largest lenders State Bank of India and ICICI Bank fell 0.26 percent each. Private power producer Tata Power extended losses to nearly 3 percent.

The 50-share NSE Nifty was hovering in a narrow range of 5550-5580 owing to lack of global and local cues. Traders may be waiting for the winter parliament session that will begin on November 22, 2012.

Gautam Chhaochharia of UBS India feels one can expect another turbulent winter session . According to him, the key bill to watch out for, would be the Land Acquisition Bill and as to how the parliament reacts to that, because that can go a long way in helping reviving corporate sentiment and investment cycle.

The BSE benchmark was down 9 points to 18,300.33 and the NSE benchmark went down 12 points to 5,562.15 while the broader markets were down over 0.5 percent.

Index heavyweights: Private oil & gas producer Reliance Industries, housing finance company HDFC, software services exporter TCS and FMCG major Hindustan Unilever gained 1 percent each.

Engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro declined 0.5 percent. Country's largest lenders State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank were down 0.1-0.4 percent.

Car maker Maruti Suzuki extended gains to 3.16 percent while utility vehicle maker Mahindra & Mahindra rose over 1 percent. Two-wheeler majors Hero Motocorp and Bajaj Auto went up 0.6 percent.

Cigarette major ITC and top telecom operator Bharti Airtel were up 1 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively.

Most active shares on exchanges were United Spirits, L&T Finance, Tata Coffee, SBI, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Industries.

Indian equity benchmarks remained listless in morning trade as gains in Infosys, Bharti, ITC and ICICI Bank was offset by fall in Reliance Industries, HDFC, L&T and SBI. Dr Reddy's Labs rose 0.7 percent as the company launched generic Revatio tablets in the US that have an annual sales of USD 339 million. Cipla gained 0.9 percent while Sun Pharma was up just 0.4 percent.

Meanwhile, the 30-share BSE Sensex moved up 16.37 points to 18,325.74 whereas the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 2.55 points to 5,571.50.

Overall the Indian market has been under pressure over the last six sessions. Hemant Thukral, national head-derivative desk at Aditya Birla Money says there are very strong supports around 5,470-5,530. "I do not see the Nifty breaking that in this series," he adds.

Index heavyweight and private oil & gas producer Reliance Industries declined 1 percent whereas its rival state-run ONGC gained 0.8 percent.

FMCG major Hindustan Unilever and steel producer Sterlite Industries were up 1 percent each.

Housing finance company HDFC, software services exporter TCS, aluminium major Hindalco Industries and engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro lost 0.4-0.7 percent.

Country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki extended gains to 3 percent. Sources say Maruti is eyeing to ramp up export of components to Suzuki plants. It is in talks to export completely knocked-down (CKD) kits for assembly in its Asian plants. This is a move to increase its export volumes to counter yen exposure, sources add.

Top telecom operator Bharti Airtel has been remained on buyers' radar, rising more than 2 percent after 2G spectrum auction got over last week.

Software services exporter Infosys and two-wheeler major Hero Motocorp moved up 1 percent each. Utility vehicle maker Mahindra & Mahindra rallied nearly 2 percent.

The BSE Sensex opened flat to positive on Monday after a fall in six consecutive trading sessions, helped by technology, banks and telecom stocks. Asian markets continued to trade mixed amid hopes for solution to US fiscal crisis.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 37.32 points to 18,346.69 and the 50-share NSE Nifty went up 7 points to 5,581.05.

Bharti Airtel continued its rally since last week, rising nearly 3 percent today. Even Idea Cellular was up over 1% after 2G spectrum auction.

Shares of Infosys, ICICI Bank, L&T, M&M and Tata Steel gained 0.5-1 percent.

Cigarette major ITC and country's largest lender State Bank of India moved up just 0.2 percent each.

Top car maker Maruti Suzuki rallied 1.5 percent. Sources said Maruti is eyeing ramping up export of components to Suzuki plants.

However, Reliance Industries, HDFC, Hindustan Unilever and Hindalco fell 0.5 percent each.0

The CNX Midcap Index and BSE Smallcap were up 0.3 percent each. Advancing shares outnumbered declining by a ratio of 536 to 337 on the National Stock Exchange.

In the second line shares, SREI Infrastructure, which rallied 26 percent last week, gained another 3 percent today.

Tata Global Beverages and Tata Coffee, which were gainers last week, fell 4 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively.

L&T Finance Holdings dropped 6 percent on  profit taking; the stock had surged 20 percent last week.

HDIL and Indiabulls Real were up 1 percent each after sharp fall on Friday.

TBZ added another 3 percent. Kingfisher rose 3 percent as the management has started crediting salary for the month of May.

Deccan Chronicle Holdings was down 3 percent as the exchanges will shift stock from rolling settlement to trade-for-trade segment.