Sensex turns choppy; ONGC, ACC, Hero Honda down

MUMBAI: Benchmarks opened little changed and turned choppy in line with other Asian markets. Gains in PSU and metal stocks were offset by losses in IT and FMCG stocks.

“Nifty is expected to open around 5275 levels. PSU’s should continue their good run on back of positive announcements by the government of India. NMDC was up by ~ 10 %, about the likelihood of its FPO in the first week of March. We recommend maintaining long positions in ICICI and MRPL. Weakness is expected in select counters like Hindustan Petroleum, Ranbaxy and in certain sugar scrips,” said Edelweiss report.

Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex was at 17626.45, down 14.63 points or 0.08 per cent and National Stock Exchange’s Nifty was at 5271.30, down 3.55 points or 0.07 per cent.

BSE Midcap Index was up 0.53 per cent and BSE Smallcap Index moved 0.65 per cent higher.

“Markets witnessed gap down opening, but improved as the day progressed which led the indices to close on a positive note. On the daily chart, the momentum indicators are still positively poised and this suggests continuation of upmove. On the upside if indices convincingly trade above 17713 / 5293 levels then it is likely to test 17822 -17932 / 5329 -5365 levels. On the downside 17490 – 17400 / 5230 – 5200 levels may act as support for the day. On the sectorial front Midcap banking sector is looking positive on the charts and suggests further upside,” said Angel Broking note

Amongst the sectoral indices, BSE PSU Index was up 1.20 per cent, BSE Metal Index gained 1.13 per cent and BSE Healthcare Index moved 0.24 per cent higher. BSE IT Index was down 0.49 per cent and BSE FMCG declined 0.12 per cent.

Sterlite Industries (1.75%), Tata Steel (1%), Reliance Communications (0.95%), Jaiprakash Associates (0.89%) and Hindalco Industries (0.81%) were amongst the top Sensex gainers.

Losers included ONGC (-1.45%), ACC (-1.34%), Hero Honda (-0.88%), Wipro (-0.88%) and Mahindra & Mahindra (-0.81%) were amongst the major index losers.

Market breadth was positive on the BSE with 1224 advances and 453 declines.

Asian markets were trading on a choppy note Tuesday as banking and automobile manufacturers declined while energy shares gained. The Nikkei was down 0.12 per cent, Hang Seng dropped 0.37 per cent while Taiwen Weighted declined 1.12 per cent.

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