Sensex trades sluggish; Midcap and smallcap outperform

Indian markets continue to trade in a range bound manner.BSE Midcap and Smallcap ouperformed Sensex and Nifty. Metal, capital goods and banking stocks traded lower. However, healthcare and FMCG gained.

At 12.51 p.m., the Sensex was trading down 56.02 points or 0.30% at 18,638.39 with 17 components falling. Meanwhile, the Nifty was trading lower by 12.60 points or 0.22% at 5,661.30 with 31 components falling.

The 30-share benchmark index, BSE Sensex opened with a decline of 49.87 points or 0.27% at 18,644.54, while the broad based NSE Nifty started with a fall of 20.50 points or 0.36%, at 5,653.40.

Sensex Movers

HDFC Bank contributed fall of 23.76 points in the Sensex. It was followed by Bharti Airtel (15.73 points), Housing Development Finance Corporation (9.98 points), Larsen & Toubro (9.41 points) and Tata Motors (8.53 points).

However, ITC contributed rise of 19.06 points in the Sensex. It was followed by Reliance Industries (9.8 points), Hindustan Unilever (6.36 points), ACC (4.64 points) and State Bank Of India (1.84 points).

Major gainers in the 30-share index were Cipla (2.63%), ITC (1.13%), GAIL (India) (1.10%), Hindustan Unilever (0.95%), Reliance Industries (0.55%), and Bajaj Auto (0.29%).

On the other hand, Bharti Airtel (3.62%), Coal India (1.89%), HDFC Bank (1.72%), Hindalco Industries (1.47%), Tata Motors (1.39%), and Bharat Heavy Electricals (1.22%) were the major losers in the Sensex.

Mid & Small-cap Space

The BSE Mid and small caps outperformed their larger counterparts gaining 0.48% and 0.72% respectively. The major gainers in the BSE Midcap were Aban Offshore (2.36%), AIA Engineering (0.8%), CORE Education and Technologies (0.72%), Allcargo Logistics (0.56%) and ABG Shipyard (0.03%).The major gainers in the BSE Smallcap were Aarti Industries (4.48%), ABG Infralogistics (2.17%), Adhunik Metaliks (1.41%), Reliance MediaWorks (1.19%) and Advanta India (0.2%).

Sectors in Limelight

The Capital Goods index was at 10,802.39, down by 92.3 points or by 0.85%. The major losers were Alstom T&D India (1.93%), Bharat Heavy Electricals (1.22%), Crompton Greaves (0.81%), Alstom India (0.2%) and BEML (0.1%).

The Metal index was at 10,475.59, down by 87.42 points or by 0.83%. The major losers were Coal India (1.89%), Hindalco Industries (1.47%), Bhushan Steel (0.88%), Jindal Steel & Power (0.87%) and NMDC (0.16%).

The Power index was at 2,020.63, down by 12.86 points or by 0.63%. The major losers were Bharat Heavy Electricals (1.22%), Reliance Infrastructure (1.22%), GMR Infrastructure (1.01%), Crompton Greaves (0.81%) and Adani Power (0.29%).

On the other hand, the FMCG index was at 5,374.16, up by 59.85 points or by 1.13%. The major gainers were Colgate-Palmolive (India) (2.4%), Jubilant FoodWorks (1.96%), United Breweries (1.82%), ITC (1.13%) and Hindustan Unilever (0.95%).

Market Breadth

Market breadth was positive with 1,415 advances against 1,275 declines.

Value and Volume Toppers

United Spirits topped the value chart on the BSE with a turnover of Rs. 1,126.01 million. It was followed by Max India (Rs. 1,091.17 million), United Breweries (Holdings) (Rs. 666.42 million) and Pantaloon Retail (India) (Rs. 596.50 million).

The volume chart was led by Spicejet with trades of over 12.30 million shares. It was followed by Kingfisher Airlines (10.28 million), IFCI (5.62 million) and Max India (5.46 million).