Banking, capital goods stocks boost markets

Markets ended Monday's session on a positive note boosted by upbeat second quarter performance from engineering major L&T.

The Sensex advanced 111 points to end at 18,793 and the 50-share Nifty added 33 points to end at 5,717 levels.

The markets opened on a weak note in trades today tracking subdued global cues and the Sensex touched an intra-day low of 18,600.

The Asian markets ended on a positive note on expectations of easing from the Bank of Japan.

The Hang Seng advanced 146 points to close at 21,697, Shanghai Composite added 4 points to close at 2,133 and the Nikkei closed higher by 8 points at 9,010.

European stocks were trading on a subdued note on Monday as investors worried about corporate profits after a string of disappointing results. The DAX was down 6 points at 7,380. While, FTSE and CAC 40 were trading marginally higher.3,515.

Back home, TCS [ Get Quote ] was the top Sensex gainer. The stock advanced 2.3% to close at Rs 1,319 after reporting a better-than-expected 49% year-on-year (yoy) growth in net profit at Rs 3,434 crore for the second quarter ended September 2012 driven by growth across geographies and businesses.

Larsen & Toubro also advanced 2.2% to end at Rs 1,669 after India's top construction and engineering company, beat estimates with a 42.4% rise in net profit for the July-Sept quarter, helped by a one-time gain and higher revenue booking.

The Mumbai-based engineering conglomerate said net profit rose to Rs 1,137 crore during the second quarter of the fiscal year from Rs 798 crore a year earlier.

Excluding a one-time gain during the quarter, L&T reported a net profit of Rs 915 crore.

Bharti Airtel [ Get Quote ], NTPC, HDFC Bank [ Get Quote ], ICICI Bank [ Get Quote ], Cipla, Reliance Industries [ Get Quote ], Mahindra & Mahindra, Dr reddy's Labs,  Tata Power [ Get Quote ], Coal India, Sun Pharma [ Get Quote ], Bajaj Auto [ Get Quote ], HUL, Tata Steel [ Get Quote ] and Hindalco [ Get Quote ] also advanced 0.2-2% each.

On the other hand, Jindal Steel, Sterlite Industries, ITC, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Motors [ Get Quote ], Gail India [ Get Quote ], SBI [ Get Quote ] and Wipro [ Get Quote ] were among the notable losers.

On the sectoral front, the BSE capital goods index was the top gainer.

The index advanced  up 1.3% or 143 points to end at 11,212. Healthcare, bankex, IT, teck, oil & gas, power and realty indices also ended higher by 0.2-1% each.

While, FMCG, consumer durables, auto, metal and PSU indices ended on a weak note.

Among the individual stocks, 20 Microns moved higher by 6% to Rs 118 after the company announced the sub-division of the equity shares of the company.

Somany Ceramics was locked in 20% upper circuit at Rs 84.65 on the Bombay Stock Exchange on back of heavy volumes on 12:20pm on Monday.

Amara Raja Batteries [ Get Quote ] dipped over 5% at Rs 225 on concerns that the auto parts and equipment makers may disappoint the market by reporting lower net profit like its peer Exide Industries [ Get Quote ] reported for the quarter ended September 2012. The company will announce its Q2 results on November 7, 2012.

JK Lakshmi Cement [ Get Quote ] ended higher by 5% at Rs 122 after reporting eight-fold jump in net profit at Rs 50.88 crore in the quarter ended September 2012 on better realisation.

Kingfisher Airlines locked the 5% lower circuit at Rs 10.90 for third day in a row after the aviation regulator temporarily suspended the  airline's operating licence.

Peninsula Land [ Get Quote ] rallied 7% to Rs 53.15 after reporting almost six-fold jump in net profit at Rs 82.71 crore for the quarter ended September 2012 on the back of higher operational income.

The Mumbai-based real estate developer had a profit of Rs 13.68 crore in previous year quarter.

Total income from operations has increased by 479% to Rs 287 crore on year-on-year basis.

The broader markets ended on a listless note. The BSE mid-cap index slipped 0.1% to end at 6,664 while, the small-cap indices ended higher by 0.3% at 7,191.

The overall breadth was neutral as 1,405 stocks advanced while 1,447 declined.