Markets gain as heavyweights edge higher

RIL, ONGC, L&T, ICICI Bank and ITC among the top gainers

Markets edged higher after a steady start as gains in index heavyweights like Reliance Industries, ONGC, L&T, ICICI Bank and ITC helped the benchmark indices edge higher.

At 1300 hrs, the Sensex was up 144 points at 22,547 and the Nifty gained 31 points to trade at 6,725.

However, the broader markets lacked the momentum. Smallcap index was flat with a negative bias while the midcap index gained 0.3%, both underperforming the Sensex.

Asian Markets

Asian share markets took a turn lower on Monday after a survey of Chinese manufacturing disappointed, while the simmering conflict in Ukraine kept gold and sovereign bonds well bid.

Early gains evaporated when HSBC's final reading of its April PMI for manufacturers in China eased back to 48.1 from a preliminary reading of 48.3. The survey showed factory activity in the world's second largest economy contracted for a fourth consecutive month in April, though the index was up a tick on eight-month low seen in March.

At least China's services industry fared better, according to a separate official PMI released on Saturday. That measure rose to 54.8 in April from 54.5 in March, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

Shanghai shares slipped 0.4% while the Hang Seng Index shed 1.45%, as investors reacted bearishly the manufacturing PMI.

Market holidays in Britain, Japan and South Korea thinned trade, as did caution over the crisis in Ukraine.

Sectors & Stocks

Back home, except IT and Teck indices, all the other sectoral indices were in green.

Oil & Gas, Metal and Capital Goods indices up 1-2.5% were the top sectoral gainers.

Cipla, HDFC, Wipro, Bharti Airtel, Infosys and Tata Power down 1-2% were the major losers among Sensex-30.

Among the gainers were Hindalco up 5.5% along with ONGC, RIL, L&T and Axis Bank up 2-3.5%.

Tata Steel, Gail India, ICICI Bank, ITC and Sesa Sterlite up 1% each were the other notable gainers.

In individual names, Ajanta Pharma soared 14% to Rs 1,115 after reporting over two-fold jump in standalone net profit at Rs 70 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2014 (Q4FY14), on back of higher revenues from export.

Deepak Nitrite rallied 9% to Rs 578 after the company said its board has recommended issuance of bonus shares in the ratio of one bonus equity share for every one equity share held in them company.

The market breadth was negative on BSE owing to weakness in broader markets. 1,275 stocks declined while 1,212 stocks advanced.