Sensex, Nifty end flat; autos up on extension of lower tax

Mumbai: Equity benchmarks lost marginal gains Wednesday on profit booking ahead of expiry of June derivative contracts on Thursday. However, indices had rallied more than a percent amid highest ever turnover in previous session. The Sensex slipped 55.16 points to close at 25313.74 and the Nifty fell 10.95 points to 7569.25 while the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 0.5 percent and 0.35 percent, respectively.

Experts believe the market will remain in range till Budget but post that it may cross 8000 level on the Nifty. Thursday's expiry will decide the market's move for the next few days, they say. "The observation is that if on the expiry day, the market closes higher than its preceding close, the next few days normally reflect extremely positive momentum and the market inches up. So I will keenly await the Nifty close tomorrow," says Sanju Verma of Violet Arc Global Managers. She does not expect a pre-Budget rally, but feels the Nifty will rally to 8000 post Budget .

"I personally feel that given that maximum Put writing has happened at 7,500 levels and a large part of Call writing and Call outstanding is at 7,700 level, pre-Budget will be a narrow range between 7,500 and 7,700. I do expect a rally to 8,000 but that will be a post-Budget rally not a pre-Budget one," Verma explains. Private banks, oil & gas and metals stocks dragged the market. Shares of ICICI Bank, L&T, Reliance Industries, ONGC, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, Axis Bank and Sesa Sterlite were down 0.5-1.4 percent.

However, auto stocks gained strength in late trade after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley says lower excise duty for auto , consumer and capital goods will continue till December. Shares of Bajaj Auto and Maruti Suzuki gained nearly 3 percent while Hero Motocorp was up 1 percent. State Bank of India, Hindustan Unilever, Gail, Coal India, NTPC and Tata Power advanced 1-1.7 percent.

In the broader space, AstraZeneca Pharma fell 1.7 percent as capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said stock exchanges will closely monitor company's proposed delisting process. Engineers India shot up 7 percent after the Government of India granted Navratna status to the company.

Magma Fincorp was up 12 percent, and Manappuram Finance & SKS Microfinance gained 2 percent each after the Reserve Bank of India permitted non-banking finance companies to act as business correspondents (BCs) of banks. About 1684 shares advanced while 1348 shares declined on the BSE.