Sensex closes near day's low, Ranbaxy sheds gains on profit booking

3.30 p.m: Markets closed near the low of the day with Sensex trading at 16,483 up by 359 points, while Nifty is trading 104 points higher at 4936.

A late rally in retailers helped Pantaloon closed the day 8 percent higher at Rs 210.90.

Metal stocks shed some of their early gains with Sterlite closing the day at Rs 105.6, up 6.3 percent, Hindalco closed nearly 7 percent higher at Rs 131.55.

Reliance too closed near the day’s low at Rs 798, up 2.6 percent.

Telecom counters closed near the day’s low with Bharti Airtel closing at Rs 378, down 2.2 percent , while Idea closed 5.6 percent lower at Rs 92.45.

Ranbaxy closed the day at Rs 440.30, up by only 1.37 percent over previous day close. The stock saw extremely high volume and a sell-off through out the day. After touching a high of Rs 483.40 the stock pared all its gain on profit booking as investors sold out on news of the company launching its generic version of Lipitor brand.

Auto majors Maruti and Tata Motors announced a better set of monthly sales numbers. While Maruti posted a drop of 19 percent for November 2011 over the previous year, its numbers were substantially higher than the previous month. Tata Motors posted a domestic sales growth of 41 percent.

Europe trades lower, Sensex follows

2.00 p.m: With the ECB (European Commercial Bank) chief saying the downside risk has increased despite recent measures, have spooked European markets which have opened marginally lower.

Sensex has touched a new intra-day low and presently trades at 16,506 up 382 points, while Nifty is trading at 4938, up 106 points.

Telecom stocks, which were looking weak since morning are the biggest losers. Bharti Airtel trades 2.65 percent lower at Rs 376, while Idea is trading at nearly 5 percent lower at Rs 93.20.

Tata Motors announced a 41 percent jump in their November auto sales at 76,823. The stock trades 6 percent higher at Rs 183.

Lower inflation number helps Sensex recover

1.15 p.m: A sharply lower inflation number has helped pullback market from their intraday low. Sensex currently trades 470 points higher at 16,595 while Nifty is at 4971 up by 139 ponts.

Banking stocks have led the recovery with ICICI Bank leading the pack, up 7 percent at Rs 762.40. SBI trades 3.6 percent higher at Rs 1825.75.

Reliance posted a smart recovery, rising by nearly 4 percent at Rs 809.

Metal counter are still the top gainers, with Sterlite and Hindalco trading 7 percent higher.

Tata Motors also trades nearly 7 percent higher on expectation of robust numbers from November sales.

Ranbaxy has lost almost all its gains and currently trades at Rs 442, up by only 1.7 percent. The stock has lost nearly 9 percent from the day’s high.

Market at day’s low, Telecom counters fall

11.45 a.m: Telecom counters are under pressure over the 3G issue, with Idea Cellular falling by 2.55 percent at Rs 95.35, while Bharti Airtel is down by 2 percent at Rs 379. On the other hand Tata Communication and Reliance Communication have gained by nearly 2.5 percent each. The divergence reflects the stand the two parties are taking in terms of 3G roaming issues. Both the parties had met the top brass in parliament to present their case.

BSE Sensex meanwhile trades 408 points above the previous day’s close at 16,531 while Nifty is up by 127 points at 4960.

Inflation numbers have been announced at 8 percent a sharp drop over 9.01 percent in the previous week, raising further hopes of a cap on interest rate. Watch out for banking counters.

Metal stocks are trading near the day’s high. With Sterlite trading 7.9 percent higher at Rs 107.1 while Hindalco is 6.3 percent higher at Rs 131.

Listen to our mid-morning audio below:

Refineries fall on petrol price cut, Sensex 460 pts up

10.30 a.m: Market continues to trade in a narrow range with the Sensex trading at 16,586 up 460 points while Nifty is at 4968, up 135 points.

Refinery stocks are feeling the heat of cutting petrol prices by Rs 0.76 per litre. HPCL is down at Rs 276 after touching a high of Rs 281, BPCL trades 1.54 percent lower at Rs 529, while IOC is down at Rs 260 after touching a high of Rs 268.

Ranbaxy, has fallen sharply after touching a high of Rs 480. The stock currently trades at Rs 453 higher by 4 percent over previous day’s close.

Metal counters continue to trade higher, reflecting the sharp move in commodity prices across the world. Sterlite trades 7.5 percent higher at Rs 106.76 while Hindalco is up 6.25 percent at Rs 130.65

Maruti announced a 19 percent drop in its domestic sales on a year-on-year basis. However, its number are sharply higher than those in October, which had been affected by strike. The stock trades 2.13 percent higher at Rs 992.

Sensex up 475 pts, Ranbaxy sheds gains

9.45 a.m: After a huge gap opening Indian market is consolidating near the day’s low. BSE Sensex trades 16,591 468 points higher while NSE Nifty is trading at 4974, up 149 points.

Ranbaxy which opened sharply higher, up 10 percent, trades at the day’s low at Rs 459.80, up 5.8 percent.

Metal stocks are the main gainers followed by banking counters.

Sterlite trades 7.7 percent higher at Rs 106.75, Hindalco is up by 7.25 percent at Rs 131.90 and Tata Steel is up by 5.28 percent at Rs 405.50.

ICICI Bank is up 6.7 percent at Rs 760, while SBI trades 3.6 percent higher at Rs 1826.

Market opens 550 pts higher, Ranbaxy soars

9.00 a.m: A series of good news from China, US and Europe lead to a sharp rally in markets and asset classes across the world. First the central banks across 6 countries, led by the US Federal Reserve, decided to lower the cost of emergency dollar funding for financial companies in a global effort to ease Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis. This move is expected to ease dollar liquidity in the system. Bond markets across Europe fell after the announcement of the joint move. However, US bond market moved in the reverse direction as the country will have to pick up the bill.

US came out with a series of good economic numbers, main among them was the ADP employment report showing the biggest jump since December 2010. US markets closed the day 4.24 percent higher.

China announced a reserve rate cut of 50 basis point which has led the Hong Kong market ot jump by 5.5 percent and Shanghai market to move up by 3.5 percent.

Indian markets too are expected to join the global rally. Expect a big gap opening today.

Among the stocks to watch out for is Ranbaxy, which has been given a clearance to launch generic version of Lipitor by the US FDA.

Refiners can be under pressure as they have reduced prices of petrol.

Retailers can be volatile ahead of the adjournment motion on the FDI issue.

Banking stocks which have taken a beating can see some buying on hopes of the Euro zone crisis easing up.