Sensex ends tad higher led by ICICI Bank

Sensex ended marginally higher amid range bound trade on Tuesday as gains in ICICI Bank, ITC and Bharti Airtel helped offset losses in Reliance Industries, which ended lower on disappointing Q3 earnings.

The 30-share Sensex ended at 16,752 up 13 points and the 50-share Nifty ended at 5,046 marginally down by 2 points.

The Sensex and the Nifty reached an intra-day high of 16,784 levels and 5,021 mark, respectively.

On the global front, most of the Asian markets were closed on account of Labour Day.

Nikkei ended marginally lower at 8,766, cutting short a four-day winning streak after Greece and its creditors failed to reach a deal over the weekend to avoid a default. European markets are trading on a mixed note.

Back home, index heavyweight Reliance Industries ended nearly 3% down on reporting disappointing numbers in the quarter ended December 2011.

However, the buyback offer limited the downslide. The company is going to buyback of Rs 10,440 crore worth of shares at up to Rs 870 a share.

BSE Metal index declined 2% after LMEX, a gauge of six metals traded on the London Metal Exchange dropped 1.06% on Friday.

Sterlite was the top Sensex loser, down 5% post the announcement of poor Q3 numbers.

Sterlite Inds posted a net profit after tax at Rs 913.52 crore for the third quarter ended December, 2011, down 17% from Rs 1,101 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

Hindalco, Coal India and Tata Steel declined between 2-4%.

Among Auto segment, Maruti Suzuki is the top Sensex gainers, up 6% shrugging off the poor Q3 numbers.

Its net profit fell 63.72% to Rs 205 crore. However, Hero MotoCorp declined by nearly 4%.

From the Capital Goods space, BHEL gained by almost 3%. Larsen and Toubro (L&T) ended marginally higher, gained 6% from the day's low after reporting strong 28% year-on-year (y-o-y) growth in order inflow at Rs 17,129 crore for the quarter ended December 2011, as compared to Rs 13,366 crore in the corresponding quarter of previous fiscal.

Interest rate sensitive Realty pack ended positive on expectations that the RBI will start cutting interest rates in the coming months to support the slowing economy.

DLF zoomed nearly 2.5%.

FMCG majors ITC and HUL gained by nearly 1%

each.

Power stock like NTPC gained nearly 1%.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last week pledged help on chronic power shortages in the country after holding a meeting with business leaders on that day.

From the financial space, ICICI Bank extended Friday's rally and has zoomed by nearly 2%. SBI and HDFC have gained between 0.4-1%.

Banking stocks gained after private banks posted better than expected Q3 numbers indicating that the economy is on track.

Further it is expected that the central bank will start cutting interest rates after the inflation figure has eased substantially.

Telecom major Bharti Airtel gained by nearly 3%.

However, the broader markets ended flat with positive bias.

The overall market breadth in BSE ended marginally positive with 1,451 shares advancing and 1,334 shares declining.

Q3 Results Reaction

Idea Cellular gained 4% after reporting strong 90% quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) growth in net profit at Rs 201 crore for December compared with Rs 105.76 crore in the previous quarter.

Colgate-Palmolive (India) rallied 3% after reporting a 74% year-on-year (y-o-y) growth in net profit at Rs 116 crore for the third quarter ended December 2011 on the back of strong volume growth. Net sales grew 20% at Rs 670 crore on y-o-y basis.

Geometric Limited zoomed 13% on reporting 59% quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) growth in net profit at Rs 21.26 crore for the December quarter.

Income from operations grew 15% at Rs 219 crore on q-o-q basis. The company added nine new customers during the recently concluded quarter.

Asian Paints gained 4% after cons net profit rose 16.6% to Rs 256.86 crore on 22% rise in net sales to Rs 2560.53 crore in Q3 December 2011 over Q3 December 2010.

Oberoi Realty lost 2% after consolidated net profit fell 50.3% to Rs 102.07 crore on 53% decline in net sales to Rs 185.72 crore in Q3 December 2011 over Q3 December 2010.

Tata Metaliks fell 4% after the company reported consolidated net loss of Rs 40.35 crore in Q3 December 2011, higher than net loss of Rs 4.33 crore in Q3 December 2010.

United Spirits fell 5% after net profit declined 63.79% to Rs 47.06 crore on 0.31% decline in net sales to Rs 1953.94 crore in Q3 December 2011 over Q3 December 2010.