Sensex closed with gains of 12 points at 13190 and the Nifty gained 4 points to end at 3848. Nifty April futures closed at a discount of 21 points to the spot index.

The sharp fall in crude oil prices helped BPCL to rally 5.38 per cent

Select pharma stocks gained ground in afternoon trades, led by Sun Pharma which ended 4.65 per cent higher. Glaxo gained 2.5 per cent and Ranbaxy closed 1.82 per cent higher

HDFC gained 3.19 per cent on unconfirmed reports that the government would provide low cost funds from institutions like the World Bank to housing finance companies

FMCG stocks had another good day, once again led by ITC, which added 2.93 per cent. HLL closed 2 per cent higher

Tata Motors attracted good interest and added 2.54 per cent

VSNL was the other major gainer, adding 1.84 per cent.

Technology stocks gave up all their gains from yesterday as traders turned sceptical ahead of results announcements. Satyam was the worst performer, losing 3.7 per cent, while Infosys lost 2.38 per cent. Wipro gave up 2.34 per cent and TCS lost 1.63 per cent while HCL Tech closed 1.41 per cent lower

Among banks, PNB ended 1.28 per cent lower

Bajaj Auto was subdued throughout the session and lost 1.18 per cent

Dr. Reddy's remained weak and gave up 1.17 per cent

L&T and Gail India were the other losers among Nifty stocks

Global markets / crude oil
US markets were nearly unchanged yesterday, after the previous week's gains. Better than expected employment data, released towards the end of last week, helped ease concerns about the economy but dampened hopes of an interest rate cut.

The Dow and S&P 500 indices closed with marginal gains of over 0.05 per cent each yesterday. Technology stocks were subdued after last week's out performance and the NASDAQ ended nearly 0.1 per cent lower

Most Asian markets continued their up trend today as well. Shanghai was once again the best performer, adding nearly 1.35 per cent. Hong Kong and Singapore gained over 0.65 per cent each while Malaysia and Indonesia closed with gains of 0.6 per cent each

Japan lost 0.45 per cent and South Korea ended nearly 0.15 per cent lower while Thailand ended flat.

Crude oil prices saw one of the biggest intra-day declines in more than a year yesterday. Near month NYMEX futures lost nearly 4 per cent and closed at $61.51 per barrel yesterday. The commodity is trading with modest gains in European trades today.

Large-cap news flow

Mid-caps and small caps were unaffected by the volatility in large caps and remained firm throughout the session. The CNX Mid-cap index closed 58 points, or 1.18 per cent, higher at 4954. BSE mid-cap index gained 0.77 per cent and BSE small cap index closed 1.08 per cent higher.

Indiabulls Financial saw a major up move and closed 12.78 per cent higher

GKW and Easun Reyrolle ended at 20 per cent upper circuits while NRC and SRF closed at 10 per cent upper circuits

Amar Remedies, Everest Kanto, ITI, Moser Baer and Balaji Tele were among the other mid-cap gainers

Raj Rayon, Thiru Arooran Sugar, AI Champdany, Apar Industries, Mahindra Ugine, Transwarranty Finance, Geodesic Info, BBTC and Everest Industries were the major losers among mid-caps.

Mid-cap news flow

*Disclaimer: The author may have positions in some of the stocks specifically mentioned above at the time of writing this article. This analysis / report is only for the purpose of information and is not an investment advice. Readers are advised to consult a certified financial advisor before taking any investment decisions. While efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of the information provided in the content the author or publisher shall not be held responsible for any loss caused to any person whatsoever.