Markets wrap on a flat note

The Sensex ended on a flat note with negative bias amid weak global cues for the third consecutive session. Consumer durables surged the most followed by healthcare, auto and metal stocks while FMCG, IT and banking stocks traded lower. Auto stocks gained on robust sales figures.
The Sensex started off in the negative following weak global cues and continued to trade in the red on sustained selling in index heavyweights. However the market in the second half made a smart recovery amid volatility and finally closed in the red after touching a high of 16,422.40 and low of 16,160.80.
On global front, European stocks retreated amid concern China will take further measures to prevent its economy from overheating. US index futures gained. Whereas Asian stocks ended mixed today. Few of the stocks dropped, extending the MSCI Asia Pacific Index`s January decline, as concern grew China will take more steps to prevent the economy from overheating.
At the close, the 30-share benchmark index, BSE Sensex ended flat with a decline of 1.93 points or 0.01% at 16,356.03, 9 components posting drop. Meanwhile, the broad based NSE Nifty climbed by 17.65 or 0.36% at 4,899.70 with 36 components registering rise.
Sensex Movers
Infosys Technologies contributed fall of 18.03 points in the Sensex. It was followed by State Bank Of India (13.84 points), HDFC Bank (13.2 points), ITC (12.68 points) and Hindustan Unilever (10.23 points).
However, Tata Motors contributed rise of 10.18 points in the Sensex. It was followed by Wipro (8.29 points), Mahindra & Mahindra (8.25 points), Tata Consultancy Services (8.06 points) and Tata Steel (8.05 points).
Biggest gainers in the 30-share index were Tata Motors (3.56%), Wipro (3.13%), Grasim Industries (3.10%), Mahindra & Mahindra (2.70%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (2.59%), and Reliance Communications (2.33%).
On the other hand, Hindustan Unilever (2.87%), State Bank Of India (1.79%), Reliance Capital (1.70%), HDFC Bank (1.57%), I T C (1.54%), and NTPC (1.40%) were the major losers in the Sensex.
Mid & Small-cap Space
The BSE Mid and small caps outperformed their larger counterparts gaining 1.81% and 2.72% respectively.
The major gainers in the BSE Midcap were Core Projects and Technologies (5.07%), Reliance MediaWorks (2.76%), A I A Engineering (0.32%), Allahabad Bank (0.21%) and Alfa-Laval (India) (0.03%).
The major gainers in the BSE Smallcap were INEOS ABS (India) (9.52%), Aarti Industries (5.53%), Abhishek Industries (5.18%), A B G Shipyard (4.98%) and A B G Infralogistics (0.7%).
Sectors in Limelight
The Consumer Durables index was at 4,015.90, up by 216.61 points or by 5.70%. The major gainers were Titan Industries (13.67%), Rajesh Exports (2.85%), Gitanjali Gems (2.27%) and Videocon Industries (1.66%).
The HC index was at 4,886.44, up by 121.30 points or by 2.55%. The major gainers were Bilcare (9.43%), Aurobindo Pharma (5.5%), Apollo Hospitals Enterprise (4.12%), Cipla (2.76%) and Biocon (0.26%).
The Auto index was at 7,070.85, up by 117.65 points or by 1.69%. The major gainers were Apollo Tyres (7.18%), Ashok Leyland (3.2%), Bharat Forge (2.55%), Exide Industries (0.94%) and Amtek Auto (0.82%).
On the other hand, the FMCG index was at 2,707.48, down by 17.9 points or by 0.66%. The major losers were Hindustan Unilever (2.87%), I T C (1.54%) and Nestle India (0.38%).
Market Breadth
Market breadth was positive with 2,176 advances against 717 declines.
Value and Volume Toppers
Tata Steel topped the value chart on the BSE with a turnover of Rs. 1,106.97 million. It was followed by Unitech (Rs. 1,070.19 million), State Bank Of India (Rs. 1,054.75 million) and Tata Motors (Rs. 953.15 million).
The volume chart was led by Dynamic Infotel with trades of over 19.93 million shares. It was followed by Unitech (14.08 million), Suzlon Energy (11.12 million) and Spicejet (7.32 million).