Sensex sluggish ahead of expiry; Realty up nearly 2%

Indian equities continue to trade flat in post noon session on Wednesday as sentiment remains cautious ahead of F&O expiry tomorrow. Consumer durables and realtystocks continued to trade higher but FMCG stocks witnessed a fall.

At 1.17 pm, the Sensex was trading up 17.10 points or 0.09% at 20,008.00 with 16 components gaining. Meanwhile, the Nifty was trading higher by 6.35 points or 0.10% at 6,056.25 with 29 components gaining.

The 30-share benchmark index, BSE Sensex opened with a gain of 23.90 points or 0.12% at 20,014.80, while the broad based NSE Nifty started with a rise of 15.10 points or 0.25%, at 6,065.

Sensex Movers

Reliance Industries contributed rise of 33.27 points in the Sensex. It was followed by I C I C I Bank (19.93 points), Hindustan Unilever (11.76 points), Tata Steel (6.26 points) and Wipro (6.02 points).

However, I T C contributed fall of 27.54 points in the Sensex. It was followed by Housing Development Finance Corporation (10.84 points), Tata Motors (8.14 points), Larsen & Toubro (6.96 points) and Bharti Airtel (4.58 points).

Major gainers in the 30-share index were Cipla (2.38%), Wipro (2.05%), Hindustan Unilever (1.95%), Tata Steel (1.93%), Reliance Industries (1.75%), and Sterlite Industries (India) (1.72%).

On the other hand, G A I L (India) (2.77%), Tata Power Company (1.88%), I T C (1.42%), Tata Motors (1.22%), NTPC (0.89%), and Bharti Airtel (0.82%) were the major losers in the Sensex.

Sectors in Limelight

The Realty index was at 2,216.97, up by 39.20 points or by 1.80%. The major gainers were D L F (3.87%), Indiabulls Real Estate (2.72%), Parsvnath Developers (1.92%), Godrej Properties (0.95%) and Oberoi Realty (0.32%).

The Consumer Durables index was at 7,552.31, up by 109.47 points or by 1.47%. The major gainers were Bajaj Electricals (3.81%), Rajesh Exports (3.05%), Titan Industries (2.35%), T T K Prestige (0.77%) and Videocon Industries (0.71%).

The FMCG index was at 5,852.74, down by 31.16 points or by 0.53%. The major losers were I T C (1.42%), Jubilant FoodWorks (1.2%), Dabur India (0.81%), United Breweries (0.4%) and Godrej Consumer Products (0.21%).

Market Breadth

Market breadth was negative with 1,137 advances against 1,489 declines.

Value and Volume Toppers

State Bank Of India topped the value chart on the BSE with a turnover of Rs. 704.90 million. It was followed by Reliance Industries (Rs. 568.21 million), Housing Development and Infrastructure (Rs. 390.60 million) and Crompton Greaves (Rs. 325.53 million).

The volume chart was led by Housing Development and Infrastructure with trades of over 5.06 million shares. It was followed by Suzlon Energy (3.89 million), Cals Refineries (3.60 million) and Unitech (3.08 million).