Sensex, Nifty end flat with positive bias ahead of Jan CPI data

Moneycontrol Bureau3:30 pm Market closing: Benchmark indices closed flat with a positive bias, aided by private banking & financials, technology and metals stocks. Investors awaited CPI inflation for the month of January that will be announced later today.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 17.37 points at 28351.62 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 11.50 points at 8805.05.

M&M, Infosys, HUL, Wipro, NTPC, Eicher Motors, Yes Bank, Tata Power and Kotak Mahindra Bank gained 1-3.5 percent while SBI, BHEL, Maruti Suzuki, Hero Motocorp, Coal India, Idea Cellular and Aurobindo Pharma were down 1-3 percent.

Bank of Baroda shares crashed 10 percent on asset quality concerns.2:59 pm Earnings: Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar today reported a net loss of Rs 36.63 crore for the quarter ended December on lower sales and high finance cost, against net loss of Rs 70.14 crore in the year-ago period

Income from operations fell to Rs 727.50 crore in the third quarter of this fiscal from Rs 766.81 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Finance cost stood at Rs 200.88 crore during the October-December quarter of the 2016-17 fiscal as against Rs 207.19 crore in the year-ago period.

Bajaj Hindusthan has 14 sugar mills in Uttar Pradesh with cane crushing capacity of 1.36 lakh tonnes per day and alcohol distillation capacity of 800 kilo litres per day.

2:45 pm CPI estimates: Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the month of January will be released today after market hours. A CNBC-TV18 poll estimates CPI at 3.21 percent versus 3.41 percent month-on-month. Core inflation is expected to be sticky at around 5 percent versus 4.9 percent. Food inflation is likely to see a decline on a month-on-month basis pulling down the headline figure. It is likely that a possible downtrend will be seen in vegetable, pulses and flour, which may decline by 1 percent. Food inflation could decline by even up to 60-70 basis points (MoM).2:35 pm Interview: In an interview with CNBC-TV 18, Vivek Chaand Sehgal, Chairman, Motherson Sumi Group said, “The company has reported highest ever quarterly revenue and best ever net profit in history. The company is coming up with 9 new plants globally; 6 plants outside India and 3 inside India.”“The company expect to see positive effect of PKC acquisition in Q1FY18 and also looking at some inorganic acquisitions soon,” he added.Also read - Hindalco turns black, Q3 profit at Rs 320 cr on strong EBITDA02:00 pm Market Update: Benchmark indices recouped losses amid consolidation in afternoon trade as investors awaited retail inflation data for the month of January due later today.The BSE Sensex was up 21.80 points at 28356.05, and the Nifty gained 10.20 points at 8803.75 while the broader markets were down 0.55 percent on weak breadth.About two shares declined for every share rising on the BSE.Infosys, Wipro, Tata Steel, NTPC, M&M, Eicher Motors, Yes Bank and Tata Power were top gainers, while Coal India, BHEL, SBI, ITC, Maruti Suzuki, Bank of Baroda, Idea Cellular and Aurobindo Pharma were top losers on the indices.

Aluminium major Hindalco shares gained 2 percent as the company turned profitable in the quarter ended December 2016, with net income on standalone basis at Rs 320.56 crore against loss of Rs 32.49 crore in year-ago quarter, aided by strong operational performance as well as low base.

Markets in Europe were higher, after another set of record closes on Wall Street and as investors eyed fresh data and digested new political developments.