Infosys and ONGC fell more than 1 percent followed by Tata Motors, Reliance Industries, L&T and HUL with marginal loss.

The sharemarket remained in a consolidation mode from early trade today but the broader markets outperformed frontline indices with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising 0.6 percent each.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 12.23 points to 27597.50 and the 50-share NSE Nifty climbed 17.25 points to 8340.25. About 1248 shares have advanced, 700 shares declined, and 321 shares are unchanged on the BSE. Things are improving at the macro level, but it could take some time for it to translate into corporate earnings, feels Vibhav Kapoor, Group Chief Investment Officer of IL&FS.

Kapoor says he expects marginal earnings downgrades. This in turn could keep the market upswing in check, he says, adding that the medium term outlook remains positive. Part of it is because of the steep fall in crude and metal prices, which will hurt earnings of the companies in both sectors.

The other reason is because of too much expectations of a recovery at the ground level, which is not playing out as expected. Shares of ITC, State Bank of India, Axis Bank, Cipla, Maruti Suzuki, Sesa Sterlite, Hindalco Industries, Bajaj Auto and Sun Pharma gained 0.5-2 percent. However, Infosys and ONGC fell more than 1 percent followed by Tata Motors, Reliance Industries, L&T and HUL with marginal loss.

Coustery : http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/local-markets/sensex-consolidates-midcap-outperforms-ongc-infosys-drag_1273173.html