Mumbai, May 8 (Inditop) Indian equities were trading on a dull note shortly before noon Friday with a key index still ruling around its last closing figure.
The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which had opened at 12,092.97 points, was ruling at 12,111.78 points at 11.30 a.m., 5.16 points or 0.04 percent lower than its previous close.
However, the S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) was ruling at 3,691.85 points At the same time, 7.95 points higher than its last close.
Broader market indices were also trading in the positive terrain, with the BSE midcap index gaining 0.96 percent, while the BSE smallcap index was up 1.65 percent.
Of the 13 sectoral indices on the BSE, the indices for banking and metal stocks lost the most, while the index for consumer durables gained.
The market breadth was positive with 1,296 stocks advancing, 740 declining and 88 remaining unchanged.
Top gainers included Jaiprakash Associates, up 3.07 percent at Rs.142.85; L&T, up 2.16 percent at Rs.1,008; ONGC, up 2.03 percent at Rs.908, and Ranbaxy, up 1.48 percent at Rs.181.95.
Losers around this time included Sterlite, down 4.38 percent at Rs.494.80; Wipro, down 3.07 percent at Rs.368.40; HDFC, down 2.01 percent at Rs.1,153.10, and Hindalco, down 1.99 percent at Rs.68.80.
In other Asian markets, the Nikkei, a key index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, closed marginally in the green, moving up 47.13 points to shut shop at 9,432.83 points. The Hang Seng, Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s primary index, was also ruling a little above its last closing figure, at 17,253.63 points, a rise of 35.74 points.
US stocks closed lower Thursday, just one hour before the Federal Reserve was due to release the much-awaited results of its “stress tests” on the country’s top banks.
The US central bank was to release the findings after the markets closed, but media leaks ahead of the announcement suggested at least seven of the country’s largest 19 banks will be forced to raise a minimum of $65 billion in capital to survive the economic downturn.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 102.43 points, or 1.2 percent, to 8,409.85, while the broader Standard and Poor’s 500 Index lost 12.14 points, or 1.3 percent, to 907.39.
The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index fell 42.86 points, or 2.4 percent, to 1,716.24
