Domestic equity markets ended flat on Wednesday as investors remained on the sidelines tracking deep cuts in Chinese and Hong Kong equities. The key indices witnessed marginal losses in trade, shares from realty, oil & gas and public sector undertaking took most of the beating from the bears while technology, metal and auto stocks capped further downside on the bourses. Better-than-expected quarterly earnings from IT major --Wipro -- also boosted the benchmark index in early trades. The index found it difficult to hold on to the crucial 5250-level and it drifted lower in the afternoon trades. The NSE's Nifty moved in the positive and negative terrain during most part of the afternoon session. The broadly followed index slipped to touch fresh intraday low in late afternoon trades on the back of subdued start for European stocks. The index trimmed losses in final hour of trade. The government's announcement that the auction for the third generation (3G) spectrum to offer high-end mobile services will be completed by March, provided an opportunity to market participants to do value buying in telecom stocks. Star performer of last couple of sessions, fertilizer pack, too, witnessed profit booking in trade. Finally, the BSE Sensex shed 11.57 points or 0.07% to settle at 17,474.49, while the S&P CNX Nifty slid 3.95 points or 0.08% to end at 5221.70.

The US markets closed lower on Wednesday on the concerns that China's curbs on bank lending might jeopardize the global recovery. On the same time the strength in dollar took its toll on commodity and energy stocks. Markets slid to a big low in the early trades, but after some good results from the banking companies they recovered in late trades. A top Chinese banking regulator said that the country will increase monitoring of banks as it tries to prevent speculative bubbles in areas like real estate. Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 122.28 points, or 1.14%, to 10,603.15. The broader S&P 500 index fell 12.19 points, or 1.06%, to 1,138.04, and the Nasdaq composite index closed lower by 29.15 points, or 1.26%, to 2,291.25.

Crude prices declined on Wednesday as the stock markets fall and the dollar strengthened. The other major reason in the decline of the crude was the concern that China's energy needs might not be as robust as previously thought. Benchmark crude for February delivery gave up $1.40 to settle at $77.62 a barrel on the last day of trading for the contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent crude for March delivery shed $1.65 to $75.98 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

The Indian rupee closed lower for the second consecutive day on Wednesday. The strength in dollar against regional currencies led to the decline in the rupee. The domestic currency made a good start as the local stock markets went up after a flat start but the choppiness in the equity markets led the decline in the currency. In its intraday trade the rupee touched its two week low of 45.95. Finally the rupee closed at 45.94, 14 paise weaker compared to its Tuesday's close of 45.80.

The FII on Wednesday were the net sellers in both equity as well as debt segments. In equity segment the gross buying was of Rs 2123.70 crore against gross sell of Rs 2575.20 crore, while in the debt segment the gross purchase was of Rs 456.60 crore with gross sales of Rs 581.50 crore.

The US markets declined on the Chinese concerns and all the major indices lost more than 1% while the disappointing results from the IBM and Morgan Stanley made investors cautious and the markets witnessed worst sell off of the year. The Asian markets have made a weak start and most of the indices are trading in red. The domestic markets closed flat despite a good start in the previous session, the markets lacked triggers to move in either direction. The global cues are indicating for a weak start for the markets today. Lots of big companies will be announcing their December quarter results today, hence scrip specific movements can be seen.

Support and Resistance: S&P CNX Nifty and BSE Sensex

                                                          Nifty Top volumes

• Unitech has withdrawn its proposal to raise $700 million through foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs).
• Trading in shares of NTPC will be suspended from February 3rd to February 5th so that the price movements in the secondary markets does not affect the auction process.
• Dr Reddy's has reported a net loss of Rs 233 crore in the quarter ended December 2009 as against a profit of Rs 192.4 crore in the same period last year.
• ONGC will bear Rs 3497 crore fuel subsidy in the third quarter ended December 31, 2009.
• Wipro's net profit for quarter ended December 31, 2009 has gone up by 67.97% to Rs 1,231.2 crore from Rs 733 crore in same quarter last year.

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