Trades Flat, BHEL Down 1.73%

The Indian markets continue to witness flat to negative trades. Owing to the expectations of de-growth in the profits of index heavyweight, RIL, the Sensex and Nifty are down by 0.13% and 0.18% respectively. Other major stocks like BHEL, Tata Power and ICICI Bank are also trading in the negative.

Meanwhile, the investment bank, USB, has cut the ratings of Indian equity and has said that India is unlikely to see a cooling of inflation.

The global cues continue to be far from positive. Hang Seng and Nikkei are still trading in the red. The other key Asian indices are also in the negatives, mainly on fears of the slowing down of the Chinese economy. The opening in the European stocks has also not been very exciting, with the FTSE and CAC flat in the early morning trades and DAX marginally up.

The statistics released yesterday show that FIIs have bought stake worth Rs 1866.75 crore and sold stakes worth Rs 1969.21 crore, which means that they were the net sellers on the Exchanges. On the same day however, DIIs were the net buyers.

All the indices have lost their morning gains. CD, which was about 1% up in the morning has come down by 0.5% at this hour. Titan Industries is now flat in its trades. In the IT space, Infosys and Wipro have surged by 0.7% each, while TCS is trading in the red. Oil & Gas is still in the negatives due RIL's fall. Capital Goods stocks have come down in heavily in the past 3 hours. BHEL is heavily down by 1.85% due to its order book position as well as new reports that the CG companies are operating at very low profit margins to compete with the low-cost Chinese equipment makers.

Companies like Bhagyanagar India, Surana Ventures, Surana Telecom and Power, Poddar Developers, Sundaram Clayton, etc. have reported their actions regarding dividend to the stock exchanges today.

Auto major, M&M, is still holding the fort with 2.6% intraday returns. United Spirits is also holding its gains. Astra Microwave Products is up by a further 8.74% on the receipt of orders.

HDFC Bank, Tata Motors, TTK Prestige, IPCA Labs and Honeywell Auto have all touched new highs today. On the other hand, Welspun Investments, Fineotex Chemical, etc. have seen new lows. In the afternoon session, JK Cement witnessed a rise in volumes. ACC Cement, Strides Arcolab and HDFC Bank have also reported a rise in volumes. The highest trades in Rs/crore are seen in the SBI counter.

The market breadth, which indicates the overall health of the market, is mixed.

With the RIL results being eyed closely, the markets are expected to remain volatile ahead today.