Mumbai: Key equity benchmarks ended trade directionless on Wednesday, despite a better-than-expected October IIP number. The Sensex closed the session down 31.88 points or 0.16 per cent at 19355.26, while the Nifty ended 18.00 points or 0.31 per cent down at 5880.80.
Aided by smart recovery in manufacturing growth, factory output grew 8.2 per cent in October compared with the 5 per cent contraction recorded in the same month last year. Analysts polled by CNBC-TV18 had expected a rise of 4.5 per cent in October output.
Mahindra and Mahindra was the top gainer on the Nifty today, after reports suggested that the auto major is looking to raise vehicle prices by over a per cent. Bank of America Merril Lynch has raised its target on the stock to Rs 1,035, foreseeing a trend reversal in the tractor segment. Autos overall as a sector did well; Bajaj Auto up 2.57 per cent and Hero Motocorp up 1.92 per cent.
Other major gainers of the day were Reliance (up 1.53 per cent) and Sun Pharma (up 1.35 per cent). Among the top losers of the day, HUL lost nearly over 2.5 per cent after Unilever Indonesia announced the change in the rate of royalty to be paid to its parent company, Unilever. HUL currently pays a royalty of around a per cent, which is a significantly lower than the 3.5-6 per cent most other MNC subsidiaries pay to the parent company.
But the big story of the day was that finally there seems to be some breakthrough in the banking bill logjam. Finance minister P Chidamabram told reporters today that the government and the opposition have reached an agreement on passing the bill in parliament. BJP sources too indicated the same.
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