Sensex ends marginally lower

Mumbai, Jan 19: Benchmarks ended lacklustre session mixed on Monday, Jan 19 due to lack of direction and as investors chose to wait before Barrack Obama"s swears in as the next US President.

Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex ended marginally lower at 9302.03, down 21.56 points or 0.23 per cent. The index touched an intra-day high of 9409.51 and low of 9273.47 in trade so far.

National Stock Exchange's Nifty closed 2837.60, up 0.32 per cent or 9.15 points. The broader index hit a high of 2868.20 and low of 2819.90.

Second rung stocks outperformed the benchmarks. BSE Midcap Index ended 0.51 per cent and BSE Smallcap Index moved 1.20 per cent higher.

Biggest Sensex gainers were Jaiprakash Associates (4.08 per cent), Sterlite Industries (3.38 per cent), ONGC (3.17 per cent), Bharti Airtel (1.92 per cent) and Tata Steel (1.4 per cent).

Mahindra & Mahindra (-5.89 per cent), Maruti Suzuki (-3.23 per cent), ICICI Bank (-2.69 per cent), Wipro (-2.17 per cent) and Tata Motors (-1.89 per cent) were the losers.
5.11 PM

Trade choppy; oil & gas stocks trading higher

Trade remained choppy as concerns about slowing earnings growth and rising foreign fund outflows dominated sentiment. Metals and oil & gas stocks edged higher while realty and technology were trading higher.

At 1.50 pm, Bombay Stock Exchange's (BSE) Sensex was at 9,324.12, up 0.53 points or 0.01 per cent. The index touched a high of 9381.78 and low of 9273.47

National Stock Exchange's (NSE) Nifty was at 2851.40, up 22.95 points or 0.81 per cent. The index touched a high of 2851.95 and low of 2819.90 in trade so far.

BSE Midcap Index was up 0.4 per cent and BSE Smallcap Index gained 0.99 per cent.
2.50 PM

Obama's swearing-in affects Indian markets

At 10.13 am, Bombay Stock Exchange's (BSE) Sensex was at 9340.58, up 16.99 points or 0.18 per cent. The 30-share index hit an intra-day high of 9381.78 and low of 9305.30.

National Stock Exchange's (NSE) Nifty was at 2833.55, up 5.1 points or 0.18 per cent. The index touched a high of 2845.85 and low of 2822.35 in trade so far. Equities opened flat on Monday, Jan 19 as investors adopted wait and watch strategy ahead of Barrack Obama's swearing in as US President. Global markets are expected to take cues from the inaugural speech by the new President on Tuesday, Jan 20.

"As for the week, Nifty now faces a strong hurdle around 2940-2950 range and then at 3150-3200 range. Support on daily chart is now at 2700 levels and then far lower around 2600 levels. All in all, we expect Nifty observing its ranged action with bouts of profit-booking till it does not cross its previously mentioned acid-test range of 3150-3200 with higher volumes. Extreme caution is warranted at higher levels," said weekly report by Reliance Money.
11.53 AM

Markets open low; Siemens, Rel among gainers

The benchmark indices have opened flat and immediately started trading low. Sterlite, Unitech, HCL Technologies, ACC, L&T, Jaiprakash Associates, Siemens, Hindalco, Reliance Communications, Ranbaxy Labs, SBI, Sun Pharma, HDFC Bank, ITC and BHEL are gainers in early trade.

However, losers are Maruti, DLF, ICICI Bank, M&M, Infosys, Tata Motors, NTPC, Wipro and HDFC.

At 9.56 am, the Sensex went down 16 points at 9,307 and the Nifty lost 5.75 points at 2,822. However, CNX Midcap gained 21 points at 3,527.

Zenotech Labs plunged over 11 per cent. Daiichi Sankyo has made open offer to the company's shareholders at Rs 113.62 per share.

OneIndia News (With inputs from Agencies)