Sensex ends flat after choppy ride

Realty stocks, among the worst hit in recent weeks, turned in a fine performance on the Indian bourses on Wednesday, but then, with key stocks from information technology and automobile sectors trending lower amid cautious trades, the market ended on a flat note on Wednesday.

Besides realty stocks, some front liners from metal, banking, oil, capital goods and power sectors too moved higher. Healthcare and PSU stocks ended on a mixed note.

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Even as large cap stocks struggled for support for a better part of the session, midcap and smallcap stocks surged higher on strong buying enquiries. A mixed trend on the Asian and European bourses and caution ahead of the reporting season rendered the market extremely sluggish today.

The Sensex, which touched a high of 16,244.70 and a low of 16,127.77, ended the day at 16,175.86 with a small gain of 10.77 points or 0.07%. The Nifty, moving in a range of around 35 points, closed at 4860.95, recording a gain of 11.40 points or 0.24%.

Expectations of a rate cut lifted realty stocks. Mirroring their surge, the BSE Realty index ended stronger by 4.64%. Metal stocks moved higher on firm trend in global commodity prices amid expectations of more monetary easing by the Chinese central bank.

Among the gainers in the Sensex, Hindalco ended with a handsome gain of 5.7% following Novelis Inc renewing its can-body sales agreement with Coca-Cola Bottlers' Sales & Services Company. On Tuesday, Novelis and CCBSS announced the signing of a multi-year agreement for the supply of aluminum can sheet. The two companies have also reportedly agreed to dismiss all pending litigation relating to the previous contractual terms.

Among other metal stocks in the Sensex, Sterlite Industries closed with a gain of 4.85%. Tata Steel notched up a gain of 2.9% and Coal India ended 0.8% up. However, Jindal Steel ended in negative territory with a sharp loss of 2.15%. Nifty stocks Sesa Goa and SAIL gained 5.7% and 3.5% respectively.

Realty stock DLF gained nearly 3.5% following the company selling 28 acres of prime land in Gurgaon to real estate firm M3M for Rs 440 crore. Hero Motocorp, Bajaj Auto and Reliance Industries ended higher by 1.6% - 2%. State Bank of India, Sun Pharmaceuticals, Larsen & Toubro, NTPC, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank also closed notably higher.

Axis Bank ended with an impressive gain of 5.4%. BPCL moved up by nearly 5% and IDFC gained a little over 3.5%. Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Punjab National Bank, Reliance Infrastructure, Reliance Power and Reliance Communications also closed with notable gains.

IT majors Tata Consultancy Services (down 2.5%), Infosys (down 1.2%) and Wipro (down 0.4%) drifted lower amid cautious trades ahead of results of Infosys.

Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharti Airtel, Cipla, Tata Power, ITC, ONGC and Hindustan Unilever ended lower by 0.75% - 1.6%.

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Power Grid Corporation, down more than 2.5%, was the most prominent loser in the Nifty index. Grasim Industries, Cairn India, Ambuja Cements and HCL Technologies also ended notably lower.

Sunteck Realty and HDIL, the top gainers in the Realty index, ended stronger by over 13%. Anant Raj Industries moved up by over 6%. Sobha Developers, Unitech, Oberoi Realty, Parsvnath Developers and Prestige Estates gained 2.7% - 5.7%. Godrej Properties and Phoenix Mills too ended on a firm note.

Union Bank of India, IndusInd Bank, Yes Bank, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Travancore, Andhra Bank and Central Bank were among the notable gainers in the banking space.

The market breadth was strong. Out of 2936 stocks traded on BSE, 1868 stocks recorded gains. 951 stocks declined and 117 stocks ended flat.