Sensex, Nifty close flat; ITC tanks 3.4%; HDFC Bank up 2%

Indian equity benchmarks closed flat amid a lacklustre trade on Monday as the market is looking for a fresh trigger to extend rally. Benchmarks had surged over 2% on Friday after European leaders agreed (at its EU summit in Brussels) to support the region's banks and government put the GAAR draft guidelines.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 31 points to close at 17,398.98. Meanwhile the 50-share NSE benchmark touched an intraday high of 5,302.5, before closing flat at 5,278.60 (down 0.3 points).

A rally of more than 1% in European markets helped the Nifty to touch 5,300 level during the day, but France's CAC and Germany's DAX came off day's high, rising 0.9% each at 15:31 hours IST. Britain's FTSE went up 0.5% amid optimism over Europe's move to solve debt crisis, but weak manufacturing data globally capped the market's upside.

Back home, cigarette major ITC tanked 3.4% (intraday falling more than 4%) after Uttar Pradesh government hiked value added tax on cigarettes to 50%. HUL slipped 1.6%.

Jindal Steel & Power tumbled 2.5% after the Odisha government has ordered stoppage of operations at Keonjhar mines. Mining lease for Keonjhar mines is with Sarda Mines, which supplies ore to JSPL.

Country's largest commercial vehicle maker Tata Motors declined 1.5% after disappointing sales numbers for June. Two-wheeler major Hero Motocorp fell 1.3% ahead of auto sales numbers. However, top car maker Maruti Suzuki and utility vehicle major M&M gained 1% each after good sales numbers.

Country's largest lender State Bank of India and its rival HDFC Bank rallied 1-2% whereas ICICI Bank was down 0.6%. Housing finance company HDFC rose 1%.

Top software services exporter TCS lost 1.4% while telecom operator Bharti Airtel moved up 1.6%.

At 15:02 hours IST: Nifty, Sensex listless; HDFC, SBI, Bharti gain 1%

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty were lacklustre in trade, but the broader markets outperformed benchmarks, rising 1%. The market breadth was strong as about two shares advanced for every share declined on the National Stock Exchange.

The BSE benchmark slipped 12 points to 17418 whereas the NSE benchmark gained 7 points to 5,285.65 after hitting an intraday high of 5300.8.

Housing finance company HDFC, country's largest lender State Bank of India and top telecom operator Bharti Airtel rallied 1% each.

Private sector lender HDFC Bank and private steel producer Tata Steel and Sterlite Industries climbed 1.8% each.

Utility vehicle maker M&M, state-owned power equipment manufacturer BHEL, top car maker Maruti Suzuki, aluminium producer Hindalco Industries and power producer NTPC moved up 1% each.

However, FMCG majors ITC and HUL tanked 2.5% and 1.65%, respectively. Shares of TCS, Hero Motocorp, Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors and JSPL were down 1-2%.

In the second line shares, Punj Lloyd, HCC, Crompton, Lanco Infratech, Adani Enterprise and Adani Power surged 4-6%.

HDIL, IFCI and Sintex Industries were up 2%. However, OnMobile Global, Manappuram Finance, Ashok Leyland and TVS Motor fell 1.6-2.6%.

European markets remained strong. France's CAC and Germany's DAX climbed over 1% while Britain's FTSE was up 0.75%.

At 13:59 hours IST: Choppy Nifty touches 5300; CAC, DAX up over 1%

The 50-share NSE Nifty gained somewhat strength amid choppy trade due to a sharp upmove in European markets. France's CAC and Germany's DAX gained more than 1% while Britain's FTSE rose over 0.5% after initial flat trade. Eurozone final manufacturing PMI for June came in higher than expected at 45.1 while consensus estimate stood at 44.8.

The BSE benchmark gained 31.06 points at 17461.04 and the NSE benchmark advanced 14.25 points to 5,293.15.

The Indian rupee too recovered from day's low of 55.87 to 55.71 against the US dollar, down just 10 paise over previous close.

Country's largest lender State Bank of India jumped 1.35% while its rival HDFC Bank rose nearly 0.9%, but ICICI Bank was down 0.7%.

Housing finance company HDFC went up 0.7% and largest coal mining company Coal India was up 0.8%.

Engineering and construction major by sales Larsen & Toubro rose 0.5% and state-owned power equipment maker BHEL climbed 1.32%.

Among metals stocks, Tata Steel, Sterlite Industries and Hindalco Industries rallied 1-2%. Top telecom operator Bharti Airtel climbed 1.2%.

Reliance Industries, India's most valued stock too turned flat after recovery from day's low.

However, software services exporter TCS declined 1% and state-owned oil & gas producer ONGC slipped 0.8%.

Auto stocks like Tata Motors, Hero Motocorp and Bajaj Auto were down 1% each.

At 12:45 hours IST: Volatile Sensex trades lower; SBI, L&T, Cairn most active

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty were trading marginally lower amid volatility in afternoon trade due to fall in ICICI Bank and Reliance Industries. TCS, ONGC and Tata Motors too were down. European markets opened flat after a sharp spike on Friday due to a surprise deal by European Union leaders to solve ongoing debt crisis.

The BSE benchmark declined 61.65 points to 17,368.33 and the NSE benchmark was down 14.60 points at 5,264.30. Indian rupee too depreciated by 25 paise to 55.86 against the US dollar.

Country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank tanked 1.4% while its rivals State Bank of India and HDFC Bank went up 0.4%.

Oil & gas producers Reliance Industries and ONGC were down 0.7-1.3% while Cairn India moved up 1.7%.

Top software services exporter TCS slipped 1%. Two-wheeler majors Hero Motocorp and Bajaj Auto went down 1% each.

Private steel and power producer Jindal Steel topped the selling list, falling nearly 3%.

However, housing finance company HDFC rose 0.6% and top telecom operator Bharti Airtel gained 0.7%.

India's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki climbed 1% after its good sales numbers in June and state-owned power equipment manufacturer BHEL went up 0.5%.

The broader markets were up more than 0.5% as advancing shares outnumbered declining by 1542 to 948 on the BSE.

Most active shares on exchanges were Adani Enterprises, SBI, Cairn India, L&T, Asian Paints and ICICI Bank.

At 11:56 hours IST: Nifty in tight range; Maruti surges 3% post June sales nos

Indian equity benchmarks continued to move in a tight range since early trade as they are looking for a fresh trigger to take the Friday's upmove further. The market had rallied more than 2% on Friday after European leaders agreed to support region's banks.

The BSE benchmark slipped 10 points to 17,420.19 while the NSE benchmark was up 0.90 points at 5,279.80.

Country's largest lender State Bank of India and housing finance company HDFC gained 0.6% each. Private sector lender HDFC Bank rose 1% whereas its rival ICICI Bank lost over 1%.

Top car maker Maruti Suzuki rallied 3% intraday as company's sales spiked 20.3% year-on-year to 96,597 units in June. Its domestic sales grew 10.3% to 83,531 units and exports jumped 27.1% to 13,066 units during the same period. However, Tata Motors, Hero Motocorp and Bajaj Auto were down 0.7-1.4%.

Engineering and construction major by sales Larsen & Toubro rose 0.4% and state-owned power equipment manufacturer BHEL moved up 1.4%.

However, shares of ITC, Reliance Industries, TCS, HUL and ONGC declined 0.4-0.8%.

Adani Enterprises was among the top five most active shares on the BSE with volume of 21.63 lakh equity shares. The stock was flat.

In the second line shares, Dewan Housing, Arvind, MindTree, HCC and Jubilant Foodworks rallied 4-5% whereas TVS Motorm Manappuram Finance, Info Edge, EID Parry and Alstom T&D slipped 2-3%.

The market breadth was strong as about two shares advanced for every share declining on the BSE. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were up 0.8% and 1%, respectively.

At 10:26 hours IST: Sensex volatile; BPCL, HPCL down on 9% spike in crude

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty were moving around their previous closing values as they stepped into consolidation phase after a significant rally on Friday due to European Union summit. The Indian rupee too was in range around 55.60 to the US dollar.

The BSE benchmark fell 13.54 points to 17,416.44 and the NSE benchmark went down 0.85 points to 5,279.75. Asian markets too were flat as every market across the globe is looking for a fresh trigger to extend Friday's rally.

Country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank dropped 1% while its rival State Bank of India was up 0.44%. Housing finance company HDFC gained 0.5%.

Cigarette major ITC declined 0.5%. Top software services exporters TCS and Infosys were down 0.3-0.6%.

Two-wheeler major Hero Motocorp slipped 1.4% ahead of sales numbers for June while its rival Bajaj Auto was down 1% after sales numbers.

Oil & gas producers ONGC and Reliance Industries were down 1.2% and 0.2%, respectively. Oil marketing companies BPCL and HPCL tanked 1% each as Brent crude rallied 7.1% to close at USD 97.8 a barrel on Friday (after 9% intraday jump), but Cairn India jumped nearly 2%.

Top telecom operator Bharti Airtel rose over 1%. Power producers Tata Power and NTPC were up 1%, rising consistently since last week.

Engineering and construction major by sales Larsen & Toubro was up 0.6% while state-owned power equipment manufacturer BHEL jumped 1.5%.

Among metals stocks, Sterlite Industries, Tata Steel and Hindalco Industries rose 1%.

The broader markets outperformed benchmarks; the BSE Midcap Index was up 0.9% and Smallcap up 0.66%. About two shares advanced for every share declining on the National Stock Exchange.

At 9:20 hours IST: Sensex, Nifty flat; ICICI, HDFC Bank, ONGC down

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty started off trade on a flat note on Monday following quiet trade in Asian markets. The market was consolidating today after a sharp rally on Friday due to positive developments at European Union Summit.

The BSE benchmark fell 30 points to 17,400.20 and the NSE benchmark declined 8 points to 5,270.80. The Indian rupee was moving around 55.55 to the US dollar.

Cairn India gained 1% amid large volumes as crude oil prices spiked quite sharply on Friday.

L&T, M&M, Bharti, Cipla PNB, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, Tata Power and Reliance Infrastructure gained.

However, BPCL fell 1.3% on rising crude oil prices. WTI crude shot up 9.4% in a single session at around USD 85 a barrel on Friday.

ITC, ICICI Bank, DRL, Coal India, ACC, Tata Motors (post sales numbers for June), Hero Motocorp, TCS, Infosys, Reliance Industries and ONGC were under pressure

The CNX Midcap Index went up 26 points to 7,378. Advancing shares outnumbered declining by 438 to 310 on the National Stock Exchange.

In the second line shares, TVS Motor tanked 3% as its sales for June fell 7.5% to 1.65 lakh units year-on-year.

Kingfisher Airlines dropped 3% as The Economic Times reported that its pilots are on strike over non- payment of wages.

Arvind was up 2% as its workers strike at factory called off. Company will take back all the terminated employees.

HCC was up 1.5% as board of directors approved debt restructuring.

Atul was up 1.3% on reports that company may sell 20% stake in aromatic unit.

Mercator Llines went down 0.5% on profit booking.

Gold loan financing companies like Manappuram Finance was down 2% and Muthoot Finance fell 4%.