The Hindu Business Line : Indices end on flat note on day of muted sentiment

After opening relatively firm, the BSE Sensex ended on a flat note on Monday, closing only 30.92 points higher at 13,928.33 points, after crossing the 14,000 mark earlier in the day.

The S&P CNX Nifty also inched by a mere 1.55 points to settle at 4,085.10 points.

The breadth of the market was somewhat muted, with 1,163 stocks advancing in value compared to 1,384 that logged declines during the day.

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Based on the FII and domestic institutional turnover at the BSE and NSE, while FIIs were net sellers to the tune of Rs 142.49 crore (in marked contrast to buying on Friday), domestic institutions were net buyers to the tune of Rs 257.72 crore.

While the BSE Midcap Index ended marginally higher, the Smallcap index ended negative during the day's trading.

Sector focus

Among the BSE Sectoral Indices, the prominent gainers were metals, oil and gas and IT. The sectors that lagged the broad indices were FMCG, banking, consumer durables and healthcare.

In the metals space, the key gainers were Tata Steel, Jindal Steel, Maharashtra Seamless, Shree Precoated and Jindal Saw.

In the oil and gas segment, the prominent gainers were Reliance Natural Resources, ONGC and Reliance.

In the IT sector, while all frontline and companies such as TCS and Wipro slipped, stocks such as Patni, Infosys and Satyam ended in positive territory.

Among the laggards, the FMCG segment saw losers such as ITC, HLL, Colgate Palmolive and Nestle.

Similarly, in the banking space, the losers were Bank of India, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Andhra Bank and SBI.

In the healthcare space, the key losers were Biocon, Orchid Chemicals, Aurobindo Pharma and Cadila Healthcare.

Among the Nifty constituents, the major gainers were Tata Steel, Tata Power, VSNL, Reliance Energy and Zee.

The prominent losers were Sun Pharma, Suzlon, HCL Technologies and ITC.

In the Nifty Junior, the key gainers were Patni, Apollo Tyres, Lupin, Bharat Forge and ING Vysya Bank. The losers were MphasiS, UltraTech Cemco, Biocon, IDBI and IFCI.

Stock-specific action

The Syngenta India stock shot up by Rs 104.20 (20 per cent) to close the day at Rs 625.20. The uptrend has to be seen in the light of the company's decision to approve delisting of equity shares from the BSE under SEBI guidelines.

The Numeric Power Systems stock was a prominent gainer, appreciating by Rs 38.45 (9.9 per cent) to close at Rs 423.50.

The trading volumes in the stock rose from 10,634 shares on Friday's trading to 22,644 shares during the day.

The uptrend has to be seen in the light of a favourable recommendation from an established brokerage house.

Stocks such as IFCI, Reliance Natural Resources, First Source, Idea Cellular and Tata Teleservices witnessed significant trading volumes.

The prominent gainers during the day were Media Video, Gremach Infrastructure, Gabriel (India), Broadcast Initiatives, Exide and iGate Global.

The key losers were Sun Pharma, Himadri Chemicals, Titan, Advanta, Samtel and Dish TV.