Sensex, Nifty end in green; RIL, SpiceJet star on Q3 nos

Key equity benchmarks ended a promising trade, albeit still at 2-year highs, on a flat note.

The Sensex closed up 0.31 percent at 20101.82, and the Nifty ended the session up 0.30 percent at 6082.30.

The star of the session was Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries closing up 2.35 percent. Earlier in the session, Reliance hit its highest level since June 10, 2011 after beating expectations with a 24 percent increase in third-quarter net profit.

BHEL gained 2 percent at Rs 231 after it said it has achieved a significant milestone in Africa with the successful commissioning of its first Steam Turbine Generator (STG) Unit in Ethiopia. The stock ends at Rs231, up Rs5.10. The stock has hit a high of Rs233 and a low of Rs226.

Budget carrier SpiceJet swung to a quarterly profit on Monday, aided by higher fares, sending its shares up as much as 7.6 percent. SpiceJet earned Rs 1.02 billion in October-December, compared with a net loss of Rs 392.6 million in the year-ago quarter.

SpiceJet said average passenger yields rose 29 percent in the latest quarter, a period that saw Kingfisher Airlines grounding its fleet. A rise in passenger yields reflects higher airfares.

Kingfisher was also in the news, but for the wrong reasons, as sources said that former debt-ridden airlines' passengers have sent a notice to the Vijay Mallya-led firm. The stock was down 4.93 percent today.

Hindustan Unilever shares closed up 1.6 percent ahead of October-December earnings on Tuesday.

Shares in Mahindra & Mahindra fell 1.4 percent after a newspaper reported that the government might impose a higher excise duty or a surcharge on diesel sports utility vehicles, citing an unnamed finance ministry official.

TCS, Coal India, Tata Steel, Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors, NTPC, HDFC Bank, Sun Pharma were among losers in Sensex and Nifty.

Capital Goods, Oil and Gas, FMCG, Power, Consumer Durables indices are the gainers.

Bankex, IT, Healthcare, Realty, Metal, PSU indices are the losers.

The rupee today rose by six paise to 53.65 against the dollar.

The market seems to be stuck in the 20000 levels today. With an extremely slow pace, the Sensex is up 37.50 points at 20076.54 while the Nifty up 10.85 points at 6075.25.

Wonder boy Reliance is still holding firm with a gain of more than 2% while BHEL, Maruti and Bharti Suzuki continue to be major gainers. Shares of the SpiceJet jumped over 5% immediately as it posted impressive Q3 earnings announcement. SpiceJet has reported a whopping Rs 102 crore net profit for the December quarter.

However, housing finance company HDFC lost around 0.9% after it announced third quarter earnings. HDFC reported more than 16% year-on-year jump in its third quarter (October-December, 2012-13) net profit at Rs 3,293 crore, driven by robust loan growth. During the quarter, the lender expanded its loan book by nearly 22% YoY to Rs 1.61 lakh crore. Investors are also selling HDFC Bank, falling 0.4%.

The other major losers are Sun Pharma, Tata Motors and Cipla. Meanwhile, power generation company NTPC too lost about 1% as its Q3 net sales missed forecast. Though NTPC's net profit grew by 21.9 percent YoY to Rs 2,596.8 crore  in Q3, its net sales rose just 2.5 percent - lower than analysts' forecast, to Rs 15,775 crore from Rs 15,384 crore during the same period.

Key equity benchmarks cooled off in afternoon trade, as investors booked profits in some of prominent names that had run up quite a bit in the last few sessions.

The Sensex up around 40 points at 20079; the benchmark is down around 80 points from its highest point of the day. The Nifty up 5.25 points or 0.09% at 6069.65.

Reliance continued to rule the roost, however, currently trading near the day's low at Rs 923.25 (up 2.70 percent) after the oil major posted its first profit increase after four quarters of declining returns, buoyed by improving margins in its core oil refining business.

However, IDFC cut its ratings on RIL to 'neutral' from 'outperform', citing valuation concerns after a recent rally in shares of the energy conglomerate. The brokerage said Reliance's current share prices are already factoring in "healthy" gross refining margins, better petrochemicals spreads and a rise in exploration and production volumes.

Among other major gainers: BHEL gains 2.07 percent, Maruti Suzuki up 1.50 percent and Larsen up 1.25 percent.

Shares in Hindustan Unilever recovered smartly after dipping below its 200-day moving average for the first time since May 5, 2011. The drop in HUL comes ahead of October-December results due on Tuesday. India's largest consumer goods maker is expected to post a 16 percent rise in third quarter net profit to Rs 8.8 billion, according to StarMine analyst estimates. Analysts say comments on volume growth and royalty payments to Unilever Plc would be key.

Hindustan Unilever shares have fallen 11.2 percent since October 26 as of Friday's close, after volume growth disappointed in the July-September quarter as well as on royalty payment concerns. Currently the stock is up 1.44 percent.

Realty stocks are among top losers today; DLF down 2.6 percent, Orbit Corp falls nearly 10 percent.

Meanwhile, Shares in UltraTech Cement fell 2 percent after the cement maker reported a 3 percent fall in October-December net profit at Rs 6 billion on Saturday. UltraTech continues to struggle with capacity utilization and no volume growth, Kotak Securities said in a note, even as market consensus is for higher volumes growth from expanded capacities in the sector by fiscal 2014.

Other cement players fall: ACC Ltd declines 1.35 percent, Ambuja Cements retreats 2 percent.

Cement makers have been hit by concerns about rising operating costs as the government last week said bulk buyers would pay market rates for diesel.

Stocks To Watch

• Tata Motors shares are down 1.3 percent, but the stock has gained more than 3.5 percent so far this month
• Cigarette major ITC was trading at Rs 289.65 up 0.91% from its previous close of Rs 287.05.
• Refinery major HPCL was trading at Rs 372.05 up 2.54% from its previous close of Rs 362.85.
• Top traded stocks on NSE: Unitech, Reliance Comm and TV18 Broadcast.

Not much of movement was seen in the stock market as heavyweights like Reliance and Bhel continue to lead the surge. The Sensex was up 72.48 points or 0.36% at 20111.52, while the Nifty gained 12.65 points or 0.21% at 6077.05.

Top gainers on the Sensex are RIL (up 3.9%) Bhel (up 2.5%) while Maruti, Jindal Steel and Bharti Airtel were up 1% each. However, IDFC cut its ratings on RIl, to 'neutral' from 'outperform', citing valuation concerns after a recent rally in shares of the energy conglomerate. The brokerage said Reliance's current share prices are already factoring in "healthy" gross refining margins, better petrochemicals spreads and a rise in exploration and production volumes.

Buying was also seen in the stocks of oil & gas, capital goods, power and metal sectors while IT stocks were on the downside.

The rupee today rose by six paise to 53.65 against the dollar in early trade on continued selling of the US currency by exporters and banks. Forex dealers said a higher opening in the domestic equity market and strengthening of euro against the dollar overseas, also supported the rupee.

Key indices continued their climb in early trade Monday, as the third quarter earnings season so far has turned out to be better-than-expected. Reliance Industries shares were up over 4 percent to Rs 938 after the company's quarterly numbers announced post-market hours Friday beat analyst estimates by a wide margin.

The Sensex was at a fresh two-year high of 20,101, up 62.72 points and the Nifty was at 6079, up 15 points.

Key earnings announcements later today include HDFC, Cairn India, NTPC and SpiceJet. IT, banking and auto shares were subdued, while shares from the oil & gas, capital goods and power sectors were firm.

Hopes of a 50 basis point-cut in interest rates have faded with RBI governor Subba Rao last week saying that inflation was still high and tackling that would be the priority of the central bank.

Among laggards, M&M Financial Services shares were down about 1.5 percent after the company's third quarter earnings missed analyst estimates.

"This can be explained by i) management's cautious stance on CV financing given the weak macro environment and ii) supply constraints at Maruti which impacted car disbursements," brokerage house Edelweiss said in its earnings review.