Markets End on a Flat Note

A relatively choppy trading day ended in the green today, driven by stock-specific moves. At close, the Sensex was at 18,470, a recovery of 166 points from the day's low, while the Nifty ended at 5,531 up marginally by 10 points. The markets opened on a firm note at the start of the trading day, led by buying in the banking and auto sectors, but by late morning, the Sensex fell by nearly 219 points from its opening to touch an intra-day low at 18,304. Post-noon, the markets saw a pull-back into the green owing to gains in select stocks, especially those of the ADAG companies. In the late afternoon session, the Sensex recovered 158 points, and was quoting at 18,462, while the Nifty was at 5,522, both trading flat with a positive bias at 1430 hours. The DMK's deferment to pull out of the UPA coalition, aided by easing crude prices and firm cues in the US, boded well for the markets today. Gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Communications at Rs 99 up 9% buoyed by positive news flow on the sale of its tower assets and a syndicated loan granted by the China Development Bank, followed by Reliance Infra at Rs 621 and Bajaj Auto at Rs 1,418, both up 2%. Losers on the benchmark were Cipla at Rs 302 down 2%, Sterlite Industries at Rs 167 and NTPC at Rs 178, both down 1%. On the sectoral chart, Realty was leading at 2,106 up almost 2%, on anticipations a reduction in crude prices could ease the liquidity situation in the country, followed by the Consumer Durables index at 5,791 up nearly a per cent, and the Auto index at 8,855 up 0.7%.