Markets gain for the sixth straight session

Oil and auto shares were among the top gainers

Markets gained for the sixth straight session to hit their highest levels in over six weeks led by oil and auto shares.

The 30-share Sensex provisionally ended up 103  points at  27,036 and the 50-share Nifty ended up 30 points at 8,183.

In the oil space, RIL and ONGC ended up 2-4% each while index heavyweights HDFC and ITC ended up over 1% each.
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(Updated at 2:15PM)
Benchmark share indices continued to remain positive, amid choppy trades, led by gains in oil and gas shares tracking rebound in global crude oil prices. Further, hopes of rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from the next financial year aided sentiment.

At 2:15PM, the 30-share Sensex was up 79 points at 27,012 and the 50-share Nifty was up 15 points at 8,168.

In the broader market, BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices were up 0.1-0.5%. Markets breadth was positive with 1,600 gainers and 987 losers on the BSE

Meanwhile, the International Monetary fund (IMF) lower its forecast on global growth of 3.1% this year citing modest pickup in advanced economies and a slowdown in emerging markets, primarily reflecting weakness in some large developing nations and oil-exporting countries.

Meanwhile, the IMF has lowered India’s growth forecast for FY16 to 7.3 per cent from its July forecast of 7.5 per cent.

RUPEE

The Indian rupee extended gains and was trading higher by 38 paise at Rs 65.01 on dollar sales by banks and exporters and weakness in the dollar overseas.

CRUDE OIL

Crude oil prices rebounded with Brent crude for November was trading over $52 a barrel amid weakness of the US dollar. Further, US crude oil output fell in September as companies reduced production because of weak crude oil prices.

SECTORS & STOCKS

BSE Metal index was the top gainer along with Realty, Auto, Oil and Gas indices. BSE IT index was the top losers.

Oil & Gas shares gained tracking a rebound in global crude oil prices. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and Cairn India were up 3% while Reliance Industries was up 1%.

HDFC was up 0.6%. The company has raised Rs 5,000 crore from low- cost non-convertible debentures (NCDs) and a further amount of about Rs 5,400 crore would come in from warrants, both of which got listed with a huge premium today.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries is down 0.5% after the pharma maor sought shareholder approval to raise up to Rs 12,000 crore through convertible debentures or a qualified institutional placement (QIP).

ICICI Bank was down 0.8%. The bank has reduced the interest rate on its home loans by only 25-30 basis points (bps), even though it reduced its base rate by 35 bps last week.

Among other shares, sugar companies are trading higher for the second straight day after commodity prices have jumped 24% in the past two months on expectations of improved demand during the festival season in the domestic market and on global forecasts of shortage during the next crushing season.

Dhampur Sugar Mills, Shree Renuka Sugars, Bajaj Hindustan Sugar, Balrampur Chini Mills, Sakthi Sugars, Dwarikesh Sugar Industries, Thiru Arooran Sugars, Dalmia Bharat Sugar and Industries were trading higher in the range of 5% to 20% on the BSE.

Shares of logistics companies are trading higher on the bourses after the Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday that he was hopeful of rolling out the GST (goods and services tax) Bill in 2016.  Gati has rallied 13% to Rs 143 on the BSE on back of heavy volumes.