Markets Close Flat, Eye ECB Meet

The Indian markets did not have much volatility and ended the session lower in the negative territory. Investors are preferring to stay away in this uncertain environment. Further, the markets are looking forward to some kind of action from the European Central Bank's (ECB) meet, which could boost global sentiments.

Among the sectoral indices, Metals, Oil & Gas and Bankex closed the day negative, while Consumer Durables, Power and Capital Goods ended in green.

Earlier, Hang Seng and Shanghai closed in the red. According to media reports, the Chinese stocks closed lower after the shares of property developers plunged, which raised concerns over the cooling of the housing market in the country. On the other hand, Nikkei closed with marginal gains as some of the Japanese companies like Sony, Sharp and Toyota posted a strong set of Jun quarter numbers.

The European markets are trading higher, with the FTSE, DAX and CAC up by 0.5%-0.7%. Investors are awaiting the outcome of the ECB meet, which is expected to announce some kind of measures that could boost growth in the Euro zone.

Dow Jones Futures is currently trading up 56 points or 0.43% at 12979, indicating a positive sentiment in the US markets.

Back home, Tata Motors ended the day the leading index loser. The stock closed lower by 1.8% to Rs 223.20. Other stocks like ONGC, Sterlite Industries and Tata Power closed down by over 1%. Cipla, which moved strongly northwards in yesterday's trading session, saw some profit booking today and closed 1.13% down at Rs 349.45. ICICI Bank, Hindalco, Hero MotoCorp, Sun Pharma, etc. also wrapped up the day with minimal losses.

NTPC was the highest gainer, closed up by 4% at Rs 163.30. Capital goods stocks like L&T and BHEL were higher by 0.60% and 1.25% respectively. Other stocks like Maruti Suzuki, Wipro and Bharti Airtel closed marginally in the green zone.

M&M closed down by 0.41% to touch Rs 695.40 after the announcement of a joint venture agreement with Telephonics Corporation to provide the Indian Ministry of Defence and the Indian Civil sector with radar and surveillance systems, identification friend or foe (IFF) devices and communication systems.

PVR's losses stood at 3.59% by end of day, finishing at Rs 178.75. The trades seemed to overlook the announcement that L Capital Eco, a subsidiary of the US$ 640-million global private equity (PE) firm L Capital Asia, is to invest Rs 108 crore for an equity stake in the company.

The market breadth, which indicates the overall health of the market, remained positive by the end of the day. Out of the 3147 stocks traded on the BSE, 1646 advanced, 1357 declined and 144 remained unchanged.

We expect the markets to remain volatile for tomorrow. The ECB meet later today could steer the markets in either direction. On the domestic front, the quarterly numbers announcement of major companies are the key factor to be watched for.