Indian equities bounced back on Thursday, July 29, snapping earlier losses. The Sensex ended the choppy session on a flat note with positive bias due to F&O expiry today. On sectoral front, PSU, banking, FMCG stocks moved up, while oil & gas, teck and consumer durable edged lower.

The benchmark index  Sensex witnessed lackluster session throughout the day. Later in the second half, the index gained some points on positive European market and good corporate earnings to finally closed the day on a marginal note after touching a high of 18,013.10 and low of 17,902.84.  

Meanwhile, Food inflation fell to single digit at 9.67% for the first time this year at a time when the government is facing a concerted Opposition attack on rising food and fuel prices. Inflation fell by 2.80% points for the week ended 17th July from 12.47% in the previous week, as prices of vegetables, especially potatoes and onions, declined.

At the close, the benchmark 30-share index, BSE Sensex gained 34.63 points or 0.19% at 17,992. Meanwhile, the broad based NSE Nifty went up by 11.35 points or 0.21% at 5,408.90.

On global front, European stocks fluctuated as increased forecasts from AstraZeneca  and Cap Gemini SA offset a Federal Reserve report that showed growth slowed in some areas of the economy. US index futures rose, while Asian shares were little changed.

Asian stocks end mixed, as US Federal Reserve comments that growth slowed in some areas of the economy overshadowed signs of increased corporate earnings.

Sensex Movers

Housing Development Finance Corporation contributed rise of 27.32 points in the Sensex. It was followed by I C I C I Bank (24.73 points), I T C (8.82 points), H D F C Bank (6.78 points) and Hindustan Unilever (5.83 points).

However, Reliance Industries contributed fall of 24.94 points in the Sensex. It was followed by Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (7.35 points), Bharti Airtel (6.78 points), Larsen & Toubro (3.92 points) and Reliance Communications (3.63 points).

Biggest gainers in the 30-share index were Housing Development Finance Corporation (2.75%), Hindalco Industries (1.96%), I C I C I Bank (1.91%), Tata Motors (1.61%), Hindustan Unilever (1.60%), and Sterlite Industries (India) (1.53%).

On the other hand, Reliance Communications (2.10%), Bharti Airtel (1.28%), Jindal Steel & Power (1.22%), Reliance Energy (1.17%), Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (1.07%), and Reliance Industries (1.03%) were the biggest losers in the Sensex.

Mid & Small-cap Space

The BSE Midcap settled higher 15.89 points or 0.17% at 9,329.97 however the Bse Smallcap dropped 15.52 points or 0.17% at 9,345.49 at the closing.

The major gainers in the BSE Midcap were Allahabad Bank(2.46%), Core Projects and Technologies (1.7%), Alstom Projects India (1.2%), Allcargo Global Logistics (1.13%) and A I A Engineering (0.39%).

The major losers in the BSE Smallcap were A B G Shipyard (2.41%), Adhunik Metaliks (1.52%), Reliance MediaWorks (1.15%), INEOS ABS (India) (1.13%) and Aarti Industries (0.77%).

Sectors in Limelight

The Oil & Gas index was at 10,187.28, down by 77.58 points or by 0.76%. The major losers were Aban Offshore (2.29%), Indian Oil Corporation (1.8%), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (1.51%), Essar Oil (0.58%) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (0.37%).

The TECk index was at 3,442.73, down by 14.5 points or by 0.42%. The major losers were Mphasis (1.72%), Bharti Airtel (1.28%), Reliance MediaWorks (1.15%), Dish TV India (0.79%) and Idea Cellular (0.72%).

The Consumer Durables index was at 5,302.22, down by 19.34 points or by 0.36%. The major losers were Bajaj Electricals (1.58%), Videocon Industries (1.27%) and Titan Industries (0.95%).

On the other hand, the PSU index was at 9,612.98, up by 152.79 points or by 1.62%. The major gainers were Bank Of Baroda(2.53%), Allahabad Bank (2.46%), Bank Of India (2.1%), Andhra Bank (2.07%) and Balmer Lawrie & Company (0.87%).

Market Breadth

Market breadth was negative with 1,444 advances against 1,523 declines.

Value and Volume Toppers

Aster Silicates topped the value chart on the BSE with a turnover of Rs. 3,731.39 million. It was followed by ARSS Infrastructure Projects (Rs. 2,007.22 million), Aban Offshore (Rs. 1,634.08 million) and Reliance Industries (Rs. 1,340.10 million).

The volume chart was led by Aster Silicates with trades of over 15.69 million shares. It was followed by I F C I (14.21 million), Karuturi Global (13.21 million) and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (5.66 million).