The Nifty started the session on a positive note but the consolidation continued for second consecutive day after a sharp cut seen in previous week. The index was hovering around the 5400 level. Asian markets too were quiet in trade.
Among frontliners, GAIL, BPCL, Ranbaxy Labs, M&M, Dr Reddy's Labs, BHEL, Suzlon, Power Grid, NTPC, Reliance Capital, Reliance Infrastructure and HDFC were witnessing buying interest.
However, the selling in L&T, ONGC, Sun Pharma, ITC, Reliance Industries and HCL Technologies erased some early trade gains.
At 9:17 hours IST, the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 9 points at 5,405 and the 30-share BSE Sensex rose 25 points to 18,062.
About 400 shares advanced as against 300 shares declined. The broader indices were flat with a positive bias.
Midcap & Smallcap space:
Punj Lloyd tanked 5% and Lanco Infratech was down 2% post disappointing quarterly numbers.
Bajaj Hindusthan wsa up 2.4% as there was a slight dip in bottomline but revenues were good.
Jubilant Foodworks was up 1% and Polaris up 0.4%.
Sun TV gained 4% after a fall of 11% yesterday. SpiceJet was up 2%.
ITI rallied 3% as its chairman expects Rs 2500 crore order from BSNL, MTNL soon.
Zee Entertainment rose 3% as the company will consider share buyback on Friday.
IOC was up 2% on fall in crude prices to USD 87.5/barrel.
However, Chambal Fertilisers, Nagarjuna Fertiliser and RCF fell 1% each.
Allied Digital tanked another 6%.
India Infoline was down 2% and Voltas down 1%.
Global cues:
Asian markets were quiet in trade.
The Dow Jones and S&P 500 hit another 2-1/2 year high led by banking pack backed by positive cues from Europe on Monday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 70 points at 12,162. The Nasdaq Composite was up 15 points at 2,784 and S&P 500 index went up 8 points at 1,319.
Commodities
March natural gas fell 4.5% at USD 4.11 per MMBtu, lowest levels since late December
March crude oil was down 1.7% at USD 87.48/barrel, lowest level in over a week
April gold prices were flat at USD 1348.20 per ounce
March silver was up 1.4% at USD 29.35 per ounce
Cotton gained 4.3%
F&O cues:
Total Nifty futures up Rs 514 crore, Options up Rs 2116 crore
Stock futures net add 2.6 cr shares in Open Int
Nifty Fut Open Int shed 1.5 lakh shares in Open Int; Nifty futures discount at 2 pts versus discount of 9 pts
Nifty Open Int PCR up at 1.15 versus 1.12
Nifty Put add 29.3 lakh shares, Call add 7 lakh shares in Open Int
Highest Open Int outstanding at 5400 Put, 5500 call, 5700 call
Nifty 5100 Put adds 14 lakh shares (45%) in Open Int; prem down from 29 to 23
Nifty 5300 Put add 9 lakh shares (18%) in Open Int, prem down from 71 to 66
Nifty 5700 Call add 3.9 lakh shares (6%) in Open Int, prem down from 15 to 12.5
Nifty 5400 Call add 3.7 lakh shares (7%) in Open Int, prem down from 100 to 93.5
Nifty 5000 Put add 3.16 lakh shares (13%) in Open Int
Nifty 5500 Put shed 5.7 lakh shares (12%) in Open Int
Nifty 5600 Call shed 2.9 lakh shares (5%) in Open Int