Sensex, Nifty flat; L&T, Adani, Cipla top gainers

The Sensex is up 23.83 points or 0.1 percent at 24894.52, and the Nifty up 11.20 points or 0.1 percent at 7574.75. About 1191 shares have advanced, 552 shares declined, and 66 shares are unchanged. L&T, Adani Ports, Cipla, Lupin and Wipro are top gainers in the Sensex. ICICI Bank, Hero, GAIL and Coal India are losers.

L&T, Lupin, BHEL, SBI and Axis Bank are top gainers while Hero, ICICI Bank, ITC, NTPC and Dr Reddy's Labs are losers in the Sensex.  

The rupee opened flat at 67.77 per dollar against Friday's close of 67.78. 

Asian shares started a new month on somewhat firmer footing, helped by accommodative monetary policies in Japan and Europe, but traders were cautious ahead of China factory and service sector activity surveys. A rebound in oil prices last week also helped sentiment, though Brent crude fell about 1 percent in early Asia trade. 

Oil prices dropped after China and South Korea posted surprisingly weak economic data and on worries the prospect of a coordinated production cut by leading crude exporters seemed remote.

The auto stocks are trading mixed ahead of the auto sales numbers for the month of January due to released starting today. Tata Motors is up 0.5%, while Maruti Suzuki, Hero Motocorp, Bajaj Auto down between 0.1%-2.5%.

The rate sensitive stocks including auto, financials and realty stocks are showing a mixed trend ahead of the RBI policy review tomorrow. In the financial pocket, ICICI Bank, SBI, Axis Bank and HDFC have shed between 0.1%-2.5%, while HDFC Bank is up 0.6%. The realty stocks are trading largely in green with DB Realty, HDIL, Mahindra Life, DLF, IndiaBulls real estate, Prestige Estates up between 1%-2%.

L&T reported a 19% increase in consolidated net profit for the third quarter on the account of improved execution of projects in its overseas. The stock has jumped 3.5% and has emerged as the top gainer in the Sensex pack. 

Marico is up 1.7% after the company posted 24% increase in net profit to Rs198 crore during the third quarter ended December even as sales grew 7% at Rs 1556 crore. 

Grasim Industries jumped 4% after it  reported a net profit of Rs 650 crore for the December quarter, up 9% from Rs 334 crore in the year-ago period owing to better operational performance. 

JSW Steel lost 1% on reporting a consolidated net loss of Rs 923 crore for the December quarter, hit by impairment charges of Rs 2,121 crore. 

V-Guard Industries soared 7% on reporting an over two-fold jump in its standalone net profit at Rs 21.48 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2015.

                                         

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