Markets closed flat after range bound session. It was a slightly cautious trading session ahead of RBI policy meet. Most of the dealers expect RBI to announce Repo rate hike. Buying interest was seen in capital goods, oil & gas, realty, pharma and FMCG sectors. The BSE midcap and small cap indices were up 1% and 2% respectively. However, metal index closed in red.

Index heavy weight  L&T has come out with good set of numbers for Q1FY09. The standalone net profit was at Rs 502.4 crore versus 376.9 crore. The standalone net sales was at Rs 6901.4 crore versus 4505.2 crore. According to CNBC-TV18 estimates, its PAT was expected at Rs 378 crore for the quarter ended June 2008 as against Rs 289 crore in same period of last year. Sales was seen at Rs 5890 crore from Rs 4505 crore. The stock closed at Rs 2,715.00, up Rs 89.40, or 3.40%.

The Sensex was up 74.17 points or 0.52% at 14349.11, and the Nifty was up 20.25 points or 0.47% at 4332.10.

Market breadth was positive, about 1923 shares have advanced, 1009 shares declined, and 219 shares are unchanged.

Top gainers on the Sensex were Larsen, Tata Power, ACC, ONGC and Ranbaxy Labs.

However, top losers on the Sensex were Sterlite Ind, Tata Steel, Hindalco, SBI and M&M.

The BSE oil & gas index surged 1.56% or 148.48 points at 9652.90. ONGC, Cairn India, BPCL, Reliance Petro, Reliance Ind and Essar Oil rose by 1.35-3%.

The BSE capital goods index gained 1.44% or 168.54 points at 11906.81. Kirloskar Bros, Jyoti Structure, L&T, Thermax, Praj Industries and Kirloskar Oil gained 2-9%.

The BSE realty spurted up 1% or 50.06 points at 5079.12. Phoenix Mills, Anant Raj Ind, Peninsula Land, Mahindra Life, DLF and Unitech ended higher.

The BSE FMCG index was up 0.50% or 10.59 points at 2135.11. Nestle, Rei Agro, Tata Tea, GlaxoSmith Cons and ITC have gained.

The BSE healthcare index closed up 0.39% or 16.53 points at 4202.67. Sterling Biotech, Wockhardt, Aventis Pharma, Ranbaxy Labs, Fortis Health, Biocon and GlaxoSmithKline Pharma witnessed buying interest.

The BSE power index was down 0.29 or 7.38 points at 2579.81. CESC, NTPC and Power Grid Corp plunged.

The BSE metal index slipped 1% or 125.38 points at 12366.72. Sterlite Ind, NALCO, Guj NRE Coke, Tata Steel, Hindalco and SAIL lost 1.40-3.5%

Total turnover stood at Rs 60695.88 crore. This includes Rs 11086.21 crore from NSE Cash segment, Rs 45000.90 crore from NSE F&O and the balance Rs 4608.77 crore from BSE Cash segment.

Asian markets were trading in green. Shanghai was up 1.5%, Hang Seng 0.33%, Jakarta 1.09%, Nikkei 0.08% and Straits Times 0.07%.