Sensex Ends Listless Session On Flat Note, Nifty Settles Above 8,700

Sensex ended today's listless session on a flat note and Nifty managed to close above its crucial psychological of 8,700.

Earlier in the day, the Sensex rose over 150 points but turned listless owing to weakness in oil & gas, PSU banking, realty and infrastructure shares.

Analysts say that the markets traded on a cautious note ahead of the start of September quarter earnings.

The next key trigger for markets will be July-September results starting October 13, said traders, adding the earnings recovery was likely to strengthen due to improvement in the economy and consumption trends.

IT and metal shares witnessed buying interest in today's session. IT stocks witnessed buying interest ahead of earnings of IT heavyweights TCS and Infosys later this week. While, metal stocks came in high demand in today's session after government data showed that India's steel imports declined by 37.3 per cent in the first six months of the current fiscal and exports rose by 35.6 per cent in the same period.

The Sensex ended 21 points higher at 23,082 and Nifty jumped 11 points to settle at 8,709

From the Nifty basket of shares, 28 ended higher while 23 closed lower.

Tata Steel was the top Nifty gainer, up 3 per cent to close at Rs 418. ACC, Asian Paints, Cipla, Bharti Infratel, Hindalco, Infosys, Ambuja Cements and Lupin were also among the gainers.

On the other hand, Bank of Baroda, Reliance Industries, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, Adani Ports, Grasim Industries, HDFC, BPCL, State Bank of India, Tata Motors and Larsen & Toubro were among the losers.

The broader markets ended on a mixed note. The BSE mid-cap index fell 0.2 per cent while the small-cap index jumped 0.25 per cent.

The overall market breadth was positive as 1,698 stocks ended lower while 1,181 ended higher.

3:07 p.m.: Oil & gas stocks were witnessing selling pressure. The BSE Oil & Gas index was down 0364 per cent; Reliance Industries, Indian Oil, BPCL, HPCL, Petronet LNG and Castrol India were among the losers.

2:56 p.m.: Stock markets trade on a flat note. Sensex up 30 points or 0.1 per cent at 28,091 and Nifty rises 14 points to 8,712.

2:24 p.m.: Shares of IRB Infrastructure Developers fell as much as 3 per cent to hit intraday low of Rs 241 after the company post market hours on Friday said that the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has terminated concession agreement for Mumbai Pune Phase II project.

1:52 p.m.: Bajaj Holdings was the top loser from the mid-cap space, down 3 per cent to Rs 2,000. Oberoi Realty, Union Bank of India, Petronet LNG, HPCL, Indian Bank, JP Associates and Indiabulls Housing Finance were also among the laggards.

1:05 p.m.: Credit Suisse has maintained "outperform" rating on Tata Steel for target price of Rs 500. It says imposition of anti-dumping duty in European Union is a big positive for the stock and Credit Suisse has increased FY18 EPS estimates by 6 per cent on higher EBITDA/tonne in Europe. (Click here for more brokerage calls)

12:45 p.m.: PSU Banking shares were witnessing selling pressure. The Nifty PSU Bank index was down 0.44 per cent; Union Bank of India, Andhra Bank, Canara Bank, IDBI Bank, Bank of Baroda, Oriental Bank of Commerce and State Bank of India were among the laggards.

12:32 p.m.: Shares of Sunil Hitech Engineers rallied as much as 13.23 per cent to hit fresh 52-week high of Rs. 363.10, ahead of its board meeting to consider issuing bonus shares to its shareholders.

Sunil Hitech Engineers post market hours on Friday informed BSE that the meeting of the board of directors of the company is scheduled to be held on October 11, 2016, "to consider, discuss and approve on the issue of bonus shares to the members of the company and issue of convertible warrants to the promoters."

12:01 p.m.: Stock markets were trading in a narrow range in the noon deals. Sensex was up 74 points at 28,135 and Nifty was at 8,723, up 25 points. The Sensex was trading in a band of 133 points while Nifty touched high of 8,746 and low of 8,709.

11:13 a.m.: The overall market breadth was positive as 1,582 stocks were advancing while 786 were declining.

11:04 a.m.: Banking stocks were trading on a subdued note. The Bank Nifty was up 0.2 per cent or 38 points; Punjab National Bank, Yes Bank, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Bank of India and Axis Bank were among the gainers.

10:42 a.m.: Metal stocks witness good buying interest after data showed that metal exports rose 36 per cent while imports fell 37 per cent. The BSE Metals index was top sectoral gainer, up 1.4 per cent; Vedanta, Tata Steel, Hindalco, NMDC, NALCO, JSW Steel and SAIL were among the gainers.

10:34 a.m.: Risa International was the top gainer from the small-cap space, up 10 per cent at Rs 1.54. Shrenuj & Company, Gitanjali Gems, Sunil Hitech, TBZ, Indotech, Alembic Ltd, TRF, Singer and Radico Khaitan were also among the gainers.

10:26 a.m.: The broader markets trade firmly higher. The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices up over 0.4 per cent; NALCO was the top gainer from this space, up 6 per cent to Rs 51.85. Tata Communications, Rajesh Exports, Tata Chemicals, Blue Dart, Bharat Forge, SAIL, L&T Housing Finance, Tata Global Beverages and Ajanta Pharma were also among the gainers.

9:58 a.m.: Real estate stocks were witnessing selling pressure. The BSE Realty index was down 0.7 per cent; Prestige Estates, DLF, Oberoi Realty, NBCC, Godrej Properties and Phenix Mills were among the losers from this space.

9:46 a.m.: Stock markets came off the intraday high levels on the back of selling pressure in heavyweight IT stocks. The Sensex which rose over 150 points was up 55 points at 28,116 and Nifty was at 8,720, up 22 points.

9:26 a.m.: Sensex rose over 150 points and Nifty moved closer to its crucial psychological level of 8,750 on the back of buying in auto, metal and FMCG shares.

The Sensex rose as much as 151 points to 28,216.64 and Nifty advanced 48 points to 8,745.80.

In opening deals, buying interest was seen in metal, auto and FMCG shares. Metal stocks were among the top gainers on the bourses. The BSE Metals index advanced over 1 per cent. Meanwhile, auto, FMCG and power indices were also up over 0.5 per cent each.

At the smae time, select IT stocks were witnessing selling pressure.

From the Nifty basket of shares, 42 were advancing while 9 were declining. Tata Motors was among the top Nifty gainers, up nearly 2 per cent after the company reported better-than-expected Jaguar Land Rover Sales for the month of September.

Hindalco, Tata Steel, Asian Paints, Cipla, Tata Power, Ambuja Cements, ITC and Yes Bank were also among the gainers.

On the other hand, BPCL, Bharti Airtel, Zee Entertainment, HCL Technologies, Infosys, TCS and Tech Mahindra were among the laggards.

The broader markets were in-line with the benchmark indices. The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices jumped 0.45 per cent each.

9:01 a.m.: Rupee opens higher at 66.58 per dollar against Friday's close of 66.68.

8:30 a.m.: Sensex and Nifty are set to open higher in trades today tracking gains on Nifty futures traded on the Singapore Exchange amid subdued Asian cues.

The Nifty futures traded on Singapore Exchange also known as the SGX Nifty traded 0.36 per cent or 31 points at 8,745.

Meanwhile, other Asian markets were trading on a subdued note as traders signaled a slightly higher chance of the Fed raising its key interest rate by the end of this year after Friday's jobs report. Japan's Nikkei was down 0.23 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.42 per cent and  South Korea's KOSPI was down 0.02 per cent.

On Friday, US stocks fell on Friday after weaker-than-expected September jobs report had little effect on the prospects of an interest rate hike by the year end.

Dow Jones closed 0.15 per cent lower, Nasdaq declined 0.27 per cent and S&P 500 fell 0.33 per cent.

Back home, foreign institutional investors bought cash shares worth Rs 56 crore and domestic institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 727 crore on Friday.

Meanwhile, ONGC will be in focus today on reports that Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has signed a preliminary agreement to take an operating stake in Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation's KG basin gas block.

Tata Steel will also be on investors' radar as the company is believed to be edging closer to striking a new deal over the 15-billion-pound pension pot that stands in the way of an agreement over of its UK steelworks, according to a media report on Sunday.