Indices blink; realty, metal stocks dominate the day

Benchmark indices slipped into the negative territory after opening slightly higher today even as real estate and metal stocks closed over 3% and 2%, respectively.
 
Indian markets remained cautious ahead of futures and options (F&O) expiry for December due today amid higher Asian cues. The 30-share BSE index closed at 33,848.03,down 0.19%, while NSE index fell 0.12% to 10,477.90.
 
Shares of Hindalco (up 3.42%), UPL(up 3.27), Vedanta (up 2.10%) and Tata Steel (1.59%) closed higher while Hindustan Unilever, which traded higher through the day, ended flat.
 
In the last seven days, shares of Jaiprakash Associates and Unitech, which were unable to deliver flats to homebuyers due to fund crunch, have risen over 36% and 26%, respectively.
 
In today's trade, Nifty Realty index rose over 3% in the final leg of the trading. While Unitech rose 12%, Phoenix Mills, DLF and HDIL witnessed over 3% gain.
 
Shares of Reliance Communications gained for the third consecutive day today, after Anil Ambani announced its debt resolution plan on Tuesday. The share, which went up as much as 16% during the day, closed 7.72% higher. 
 
Telecom index closed flat. Bharti Airtel closed at 531.05, down 0.55, after trading flat through the day.
 
Other telecom stocks like GTL (up 2.6%), MTNL (up 3.95%) and Idea (up 1.04%) closed higher.
 
Anil Ambani group firms Reliance Naval (up2.54%), Reliance Power (up 0.79% ), Reliance Infrastructure (up 3.92%) and Reliance Capital (up 9.74%) rallied up, while Reliance Home Finance was closed down on the BSE.
 
Over the past three days, shares of the company have gained over 90%.
 
Once the debt resolution plan is completed, the company's debt will fall to Rs 60 bn from over Rs450 bn, an India Infoline report said.
 
The company will reduce debt by monetising its wireless business and selling land parcels at Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City (DAKC), Chairman Anil Ambani said in a press conference.
 
Barring metal and realty indices, the rest either remained flat or slipped into the negative territory at the time of market closing. 

Tata Motors, Eicher Motors, Hero Motocorp and Bajaj Auto fell over 1%. In the Nifty Bank index, State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, IDFC Bank, Punjab National Bank and Canara Bank closed over 2% down.

Asian markets were trading higher following a rally in oil and copper prices this week.
 
Metals stocks climbed as copper prices extended gains to hit a near four-year high after a jump in China`s imports of the metal boosted expectations of stronger demand from the top consumer.