Benchmark indices ended flat on Monday with markets eye key economic numbers which are due in the week. The BSE barometer, the Sensex ended 41.29 points higher at 20,334.27 points, while NSE?s Nifty ended 9.75 points higher at 6,053.45 points. For broader markets, breadth was moderate with 1,328 advances against 1,246 declines.
The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) numbers and the consumer price index (CPI) data are due on Wednesday, while the data for the wholesale price index (WPI) inflation would be out on Friday.
Experts expect markets to remain volatile in the short-term. ?There are no reasons for the markets to go higher or lower. Emerging markets are still not out of the woods,? said Andrew Holland, CEO, Ambit Investment Advisors.
Among sectoral indices, BSE Consumer Durables (1.53%), BSE Realty (1.15%), BSE Capital Goods (0.60%) and BSE Oil & Gas (0.67%) were the major gainers, while BSE IT (-0.42%), BSE FMCG (-0.06%) and BSE Metal (-0.51%) were the major losers.
Among individual stocks, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (2.10%), Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries (1.68%) and Maruti Suzuki (1.41%) were the major gainers on the Sensex. Shares of Tata Motors were marginally up 0.86% with the automaker reporting net profit of Rs 4,804 crore for the quarter ended December, as against net profit of Rs 1,627 crore reported in the year-ago period.
Among broader markets, shares of Wockhardt gained 6.67% during intra-day after the pharma player reported net profit of Rs 304 crore on Sunday, which beat analysts? estimates of Rs 113 crore, according to a Bloomberg poll. Shares of DLF gained 5.47% intra-day as the realty player raked in Rs 2,200 crore over the sale of Aman Resorts. Shares of Telecom operators Idea Cellular (-8.9%) and Bharti Airtel (-3.13%) plunged in intra-day trade on Monday as Morgan Stanley analysts in a research note estimated higher debt levels for the telecom players post spectrum auction.
Among key Asian indices, Shanghai Composite (2.03%), Kospi (0.04%) and Taiwan Taiex (0.05%) were trading in the green. Straits Times (-0.15%) and Hang Seng (-0.27%) were trading in the red.
Among European indices, FTSE 100 (0.07%), DAX (0.16%) and CAC 40 (0.20%) were trading in the green. On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (1.06%) and the Nasdaq Composite (1.69%) closed higher.
