Trades Remain Range-bound

The markets are witnessing range-bound trades today. The Nifty is currently trading down by 4 points at 6011 and Sensex is lower by 6 points at 19778.71. Both Nifty and Sensex are lower in the range of 0.02%-0.07%.

The market breadth continues to be positive. On the NSE, 952 shares are trending up and 484 shares are down.

Top 5 NSE Gainers: Bharat Petroleum is trading near its day’s high and is the top gainer on the NSE, up by 4.71%. This is followed by Maruti Suzuki India, Cipla, Cairn India and ONGC.

Top 5 NSE Losers: L&T is among the top losers, trading lower by 1.50%. Others in the red include Jaiprakash Associates, HDFC, Hindustan Unilever and Coal India.

9 of the 13 sectoral indices are trading in the green in the afternoon trading session. Auto and Oil & Gas are up in the range of 0.70%-0.82%. CG and Bankex, though, are under selling pressure,  lower by 0.28%-0.80%.

The Asian markets are witnessing sluggish trade. Shanghai Composite is the top gainer, trading 0.37% higher, followed by Hang Seng, which gained 0.10%. Nikkei 225 has dipped 0.84% and Taiwan Weighted is down 0.66%.

Buzzers: Hindustan Motors has surged 20% so far in today trades. The stock has hit the upper circuit along with a rise in volumes. It gained on news that the company’s Board of Directors will meet on Jan 10, 2013 to consider restructuring of the company.

Geometric is trading up by 5.21% at Rs 110, having seen a high of Rs 111.25 and a low of Rs 105.60. The stock gained after over the acquisition of 3cap Technologies GmbH, a Germany-based specialist in electronics engineering for the automotive industry.

For the last couple of days, Nifty has witnessed good action in the final hour of trade, and this could continue today too. 5970 is an important levels to watch for, as below this, the Nifty can slip to 5935.