Moving in and out of the positive terrain on Wednesday,the BSE Sensex finally closed on a flat note - down 10 points at 17,551 - as investors remained cautious amid capital outflows and below normal monsoon forecast. Investors reduced holdings in consumer durables stock following the forecast. The BSE Consumer Durables index received a heavy blow and was the top loser from the sectoral indices,a fall of 3.83 per cent. The Realty index was the second big loser with a drop of 2.29 per cent. Besides,brokers said that FII inflows have slowed down considerably,dampening market sentiment. In the last eight trading sessions since June 10,they have sold shares worth Rs 2,817.30 crore. The Bombay Stock Exchange 30-scrip barometer initially touched 17,678.86 on firm Asian cues. But it fell back to settle at 17,550.63,down 9.67 points or 0.06 per cent. After four sessions of heavy sell-offs,Sensex had gained 54 points yesterday but failed to sustain the gains. Smart rise in M&M,ONGC,Cipla,Bajaj Auto,Tata Power and Infosys Tech today was offset by fall in HUL,Maruti,Bharti,TCS,Jindal Steel,Hero Honda,Jaiprakash Associates and DLF. The NSE 50-issue Nifty,however,edged up 2.45 points or 0.05 per cent to 5,278.30. "Sensex ended flat amid range bound market. Concerns of below average monsoon forecast,inflation and high crude oil prices have kept the market range bound despite other Asian market ending on a strong note," said Parag Doctor,Associate Vice President at Motilal Oswal Securities. Globally,European markets remained weak on concerns over the Greek debt problem despite the government there winning the confidence vote. Asian stocks,however,showed firm trend and barring Singapore,other markets ended with gains. Overall,16 of the 30 index-based counters closed in the red. HUL dipped 3.42 per cent,Maruti Suzuki (2.39 pc),Bharti Airtel (2.32 pc),TCS (1.86 pc),Jindal Steel (1.46 pc),Hero Honda (1.41 pc),Jaipra Asso (1.05 pc) and DLF (1.03 pc). Among other durables and realty stocks,Titan dipped 6.23 per cent,Blue Star (2.85 pc) and Gitanjali Gem (2.35 pc),while Peninsula Land tumbled 6.34 per cent,Anant Raj Ind (5.64 pc),Indiabulls Real Est (4.32 pc),Unitech (3.70 pc),HDIL (3.05 pc). However,M&M rose 2.39 per cent,ONGC (2.05 pc),Cipla (1.99 pc),Bajaj Auto (1.68 pc),Tata Power (1.60 pc) and Infosys (0.79 pc). Reflecting selling in second-line stocks,BSE-Smallcap and BSE-Midcap indices continued to underperform the Sensex and fell by 0.84 per cent each. The market breadth at BSE remained negative as 1,797 stocks ended with losses,as against 1,036 that finished with gains. Total turnover remained low at Rs 2,304.65 crore.
