Market at day's low on profit-booking

Broader markets pare gains, moving in line with benchmark indices

Market pared gains in late-afternoon trades this Monday as investors booked profits in IT and consumer goods stocks on account of truncated week.

The stock exchanges will remain shut on Wednesday and Friday on account of Holi and Good Friday.

At 2:15PM, the Bombay Stock Exchange's 30-share index Sensex gained 74 points  and  traded at  18,805  while the National Stock Exchange's 50-share Nifty rose 22 points at 5,674.

Global risk appetite, however, remained firm after Cyprus sealed $13 billion deal with troika which includes the European Central Bank, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund averting financial crisis.

Japan's Nikkei traded up 1.7% to 12,546.46, Strait Times adding 0.45% to 3,273, Hang Seng gained 0.59% to 22,246 while Shanghai dropped 0.1% to 2,326.

The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan climbed 0.8%, bouncing off its lowest level in three months struck earlier last week. South Korean shares jumped 1.5% after closing the previous week at a 5-week low.

Back home,  real-estate, PSU, oil and gas, power sectors  gained while IT , auto and FMCG were among the laggards on BSE.

The other notable movers included, Coal India which was up 0.5% as J.P.Morgan upgraded Coal India to "neutral" from "underweight", saying the drop in the share price this year is making the risk reward relatively more attractive.

After a brief drop into the red, shares of Hindustan Unilever gained 0.4% after Deutsche Bank upgraded India's largest consumer goods maker to "buy" from "neutral" and raised its target price to Rs 530 from Rs 500.

Nestle India dipped 1.3% after the Indian unit of Nestle Group said  it would implement a staggered increase in royalty payments of 0.2% per year over the next five years to the parent company.

The broader markets traded positive with mid-caps and small-caps gaining 0.2-0.4% on BSE.

The market breadth is negative. Out of 2,753  stocks traded, 1,353 stocks declined compared to 1,250 advances on BSE.