Markets trade in a narrow range

22 Jan 2009 | 18:24
Markets trade in a narrow range

It was a lacklustre session for the markets as they traded in a narrow range before finally closing marginally higher. Reliance Industries and ONGC were the key stocks that witnessed choppy trade. Positive earnings from Bharti Airtel supported the markets, due to which the frontline indices did not fall much.

While the Sensex closed 34.67pts or 0.39% higher at 8,813.84, the Nifty gained 7.65pts or 0.28% to close at 2713.8. The broad market indices under performed as the BSE Midcap and Small Cap indices were down by 2.07% and 2.01% respectively. Market breadth was negative as A/D ratio was 0.45:1 on the BSE. NSE cash turnover was higher at Rs.8,553crs. Vs. Rs.7942crs. on Wednesday.

The sectoral indices were a mixed bag. The top gainers were the BSE Bankex, Oil and Gas and IT indices. The top losers were the BSE Realty, Consumer durables, Metal and Capital goods indices. The top gainers from the BSE-30 were Bharti, Grasim, Sun Pharma and Sterlite. The top losers were DLF, Ranbaxy, Hindalco, Rel infra and Tata Motors.

Though the Nifty has managed to close above the 2700 supports, the trend continues to remain down. We continue with our outlook that any upsides are likely to be of a short term nature and therefore recommend traders to use these upsides to build shorts.