Gains in ITC, Tata Motors push Sensex above 27,200

FMCG, Consumer Durables and Auto were the top sectoral gainers

Markets recovered from day lows and surged on account of buying in ITC, ONGC and Tata Motors. At 1425 hrs, the Sensex was up 119 points at 27,210 and the Nifty added 30 points to trade at 8,151.

The broader markets outperformed the benchmark index with the smallcap index up 0.8% and the midcap index added 0.4%.

The rupee was trading flat at Rs 60.81, hovering close to Friday's close of Rs 60.80. Traders say the drop in NDF forwards is hurting sentiment for the USD/INR pair. Gains in the dollar versus major currencies will prevent a sharp fall. Dollar is trading at six-year high versus the yen.

Sectors & Stocks

The BSE Metal and Healthcare indices down a percent each were the top losers while FMCG and Consumer Durables indices gained 1-3%.

Consumer Durables gained on expectation of demand ahead of the festive season. PC Jewellers, Whirlpool and Titan up 4-18% were the movers in this space.

Auto index was up over 1% supported by gains in Tata Motors as analysts have remained on bullish on the stock. Hero MotoCorp and Bajaj Auto up 1% each were the other notable gainers.

After strong performance during last week pharma stocks have come under pressure due to profit booking. Sun Pharma and Cipla slipped 1-2%.

Also, profit booking in IT stocks after they posted gains in the range of 1 to 4% last week has kept their stocks bogged down. Infosys, TCS and Wipro were down 0.2-1%.

The market breadth was positive on BSE. 1,693 stocks advanced while 1,256 stocks declined.

Global Markets

Asian shares skidded on Monday as investors awaited data this week that could provide more evidence of a slowdown in China, while the dollar gave back a little of its recent gains.

China's flash manufacturing PMI reading on Tuesday could come in below the 50 level, indicating that manufacturing activity is contracting.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped about 1%. Japan's Nikkei stock average ended down 0.7%, after it marked its highest closing level since 2007 on Friday and gained 2.3% last week.

The downbeat mood continued into the European markets with all the major markets like CAC, DAX and FTSE down 0.1-0.6%.