Markets in the red on last trading day of 2012

Commentary

oi-Sunil

By Sunil Fernandes

Published: Monday, December 31, 2012, 9:41 [IST]

Markets opened the day marginally higher in the last trading day of 2012, but, soon dipped into the red with worries over the fiscal cliff negotiations in the US weighing on investor sentiments. The Sensex was down 10 points, while the Nifty dropped 4 points at 9.30 am IST.

Among the early gainers in trade were Wipro, Punjab National Bank, Reliance Infra and ONGC. Wipro rallied after the company said it has received shareholders nod for its plan of spin off the entity into two different business units.

HDFC Bank dipped marginally after the bank decided to cut its base rate by 10 basis points (0.1%) as part of a 'cumulative action'.

NMDC was trading marginally up after the state-owned miner said it will decide on prices for January at a board meeting on Wednesday.

Among the early losers in trade were ITC, IDFC and Larsen. The Bank Nifty was in the red with banking stocks like State Bank of India, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank all dropping in trade today.

IT Stocks were also trading lower with TCS, Infosys and Mphasis all trading lower. Reliance Industries was trading firm today with only one month left for the company to complete its buyback programme.

Metal stocks were at the receiving end with Hindalco, Tate Steel and Sterlite Industries declining.

Markets are expected to remain rangebound today and would await the outcome of the fiscal cliff agreement in the US.

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