Heavyweights help market recovery

Markets recovered smartly as oil stocks gained. Heavyeights - Reliance and ICICI Bank led the recovery.

Sensex rebounded from a low of 17,593 and was up 33 points at 17,808. Markets had opened in the negative following cues from Asian bourses. Fears that RBI may introduce further tightening to tame inflation dampened sentiments.

Nifty was up 11 points at 5,322.

Asian markets dipped lower in trades after China raised interest rates for the second time in 6 weeks. Shanghai Composite was unchanged at 2,798. Hang Seng slipped 0.64% at 23,333. Jakarta Composite dipped 1.6%, followed by Straits Times and Seoul Composite - down 1% each.

BSE oil & gas index gained 1.3% at 9,423.

ONGC jumped 2% to Rs 287. Reliance added 2% to Rs 932.

Meanwhile, realty, FMCG and power indices remained in red.

Mahindra & Mahindra gained 2.5% at Rs 644 ahead of its numbers.

ICICI Bank added 2% to Rs 969. Larsen & Toubro, Jaiprakash Associates, HDFC Bank and Reliance Infrastructure advanced 1-2% each.

Meanwhile, Bajaj Auto slipped 2.3% to Rs 1,208. DLF, Reliance Communications, BHEL and Hindalco slipped 1-2% each.

ITC, Tata Power, Hero Honda and SBI were down 1% each.