Sensex ends in red; IT, banking, auto see profit booking

After last week's big rally, the Sensex ended in the red on Monday while the Nifty was flat . At 15.57 hrs IST, the Sensex was down 37.02 points at 19646.21 and the Nifty declined 3.35 points at 5942.35. About 1380 shares advanced, 1479 shares declined, and 649 shares remain unchanged.

The market would now be focusing on the factory output data which will be announced on Tuesday and inflation on Thursday. These may set expectations ahead of the central bank's monetary policy decision on March 19.

"One should avoid trading the Bank Nifty and the Nifty even for a carry forward position because choppiness could creep into the market tomorrow," recommended technical analyst Sudarshan Sukhani of s2analytics.com

Engineering company Siemens was the top gainer on the Sensex rising more than 5 percent. The stock shot up more than 7 percent to touch an intraday of Rs 571. DLF (2.97%), Tata Power (2.38%), HDFC (2.26%) and Asian Paints (1.93%) were the other gainers.

On the other hand, profit booking was seen in IT, banking, capital good and auto stocks. Hero Motocorp was the top loser on the Sensex, it fell 2.51%. Wipro (1.35%), Bajaj Auto (1.35%), Jindal Steel (1.24%) and TCS (1.05%) were the other losers.

Meanwhile, there was some respite on the macro front, trade deficit narrowed to USD 14.92 billion in February on the back of a 4.3 percent y-o-y jump in exports. Import growth also slowed to 2.6 percent, but crude oil and gold imports continued to remain high. The Indian currency touched 54.44 per USD dollar.

The BSE benchmark Sensex is trading flat at 19687, up 0.02 percent. The NSE 50-share is up 4.90 points or 0.08 percent at 5950.60.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries is trading higher by 2.13 percent at Rs 836; also its new high on BSE, after Barclays Research upped its price target from Rs 760 earlier to Rs 936 and upgraded the stock to ''Overweight'' from "Equal Weight".

Top gainers on the Sensex:, HDFC (2.09 percent), GAIL (2.18 percent), Mahindra and Mahindra (1.23 percent) and Tata Power (1.92 percent).

Amtek Auto stock up nearly 7 percent; the company has entered into agreement to buy Germany's Neumayer Tekfor Group.

Siemens shares are up over 6 percent to Rs 554.3, top Nifty gainer.

Gainers in BSE bankex -- Yes Bank up 2.3 percent, Axis Bank gains 1 percent and PNB rises 0.7 percent. United Spirits is the big gainer in BSE FMCG index, up 2 percent.

Autos were down on the back of poor auto sales for the month of February. Tata Motors is down 0.33 percent, Bajaj Auto is down 0.87 percent, Hero Motocorp is down 1.49 percent, Eicher Motors is down 0.55 percent and Ashok Leyland is down 1.25 percent.

Adani Power is the top loser in BSE power index, down 1.3 percent to Rs 49.95. The stock has lost nearly 19 percent in this year so far.

IT stocks hurting Sensex and Nifty -- Infosys down 1 percent, TCS falls 1.3 percent. Oracle Financial Services down 2.9 percent to Rs 2,762.

Himachal Futuristic Communications gains 14.7 percent to Rs 9.52, top gainer in BSE small-cap index.

Key equity benchmarks slipped in red, while the rupee rose after exports showed a pick-up.

February exports rose 4.25 percent, with positive trend in exports likely to continue.

At 13.52 hrs IST, the Sensex is down 14.64 points or 0.07 percent at 19668.59, and the Nifty down 1.70 points or 0.03 percent at 5944.00.

Top gainers on the Sensex: Sun Pharma (2.31 percent), HDFC (2.22 percent), Coal India (1.39 percent), Mahindra and Mahindra (1.34 percent) and HUL (1.22 percent).

Amtek Auto stock up 7 percent; the company has entered into agreement to buy Germany's Neumayer Tekfor Group.

Siemens shares are up around 4 percent to Rs 554.3, top Nifty gainer.

Gainers in BSE bankex -- Yes Bank up 2.3 percent, Axis Bank gains 1 percent and PNB rises 0.7 percent. United Spirits is the big gainer in BSE FMCG index, up 2 percent.

Autos were down on the back of poor auto sales for the month of February. Tata Motors is down 0.33 percent, Bajaj Auto is down 0.87 percent, Hero Motocorp is down 1.49 percent, Eicher Motors is down 0.55 percent and Ashok Leyland is down 1.25 percent.

Adani Power is the top loser in BSE power index, down 1.3 percent to Rs 49.95. The stock has lost nearly 19 percent in this year so far.

IT stocks hurting Sensex and Nifty -- Infosys down 1 percent, TCS falls 1.3 percent. Oracle Financial Services down 2.9 percent to Rs 2,762.

Himachal Futuristic Communications gains 14.7 percent to Rs 9.52, top gainer in BSE small-cap index.

The 50-share NSE Nifty continued to hover around 5950 level since early trade after rising more than 250 points in previous four consecutive sessions.

The market is unlikely to sustain last week's gains, feels Tirthankar Patnaik, Director Institutional Research, Religare Capital Markets, as it is lacking in fundamental triggers.

The index rose 5.20 points to 5,950.90 while the BSE Sensex gained 12.49 points at 19,695.72 at 11:24 hours IST.

Housing finance major HDFC gained 1.6 percent, continuing its uptrend for the fifth consecutive session today. The stock rallied 7 percent since last Tuesday.

Coal India, country's largest mining company, topped the buying list with 2 percent gains.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries was quite supportive, up 0.7 percent after the Bank of America Merrill Lynch upgraded the stock to neutral rating with a target price of Rs 893. "Gross refining margins are up in the last 2 quarters and the strength appears sustainable," Merrill Lynch reasoned.

Sun Pharma, which touched a new 52-week high of Rs 836 today, rose 1.83 percent to Rs 833.25.

Meanwhile, country's largest private sector lenders ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank were down 0.3-0.7 percent on profit booking.

Technology majors TCS and Infosys declined 1.2 percent and 0.65 percent, respectively.

Metals stocks too lost their shine; Hindalco and Sterlite fell over 1 percent while Tata Steel was down 0.3 percent.

Equity benchmarks began steady Monday, with realty, and oil and gas shares leading early gainers. The Sensex was up 41 points at 19724 and the Nifty up 13 points at 5958.

The benchmarks rallied around 4 percent each last week, but experts feel the pace of the uptrend could moderate as the market lacks fundamental triggers at this point.

Technical analysts see profit booking setting in at 6000 on the Nifty.

Third quarter corporate earnings were broadly below market expectations, and the trend is expected to persist in the current quarter as well, according to analysts.

A likely positive trigger for the market could be the RBI cutting policy rate by 25 basis points at its review meet next Tuesday.

Jet Air, GMR Infra, Lanco and Berger Paints were among the key gainers, up 3-4 percent.

Neyveli Lignite, United Breweries and L&T figured among laggards, down 2-3 percent.