Sensex ends 6 points higher amid volatile trade

ITC, Sun Pharma, HDFC and Coal India were among the top gainers

Markets rebounded from their day's lows after hitting record highs earlier on renewed buying in defensive shares. The 30-share Sensex was up six points at 27,875 and the Nifty added seven points to end the trade at 8,344 (provisional).
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(Updated at 1531 hrs)
Markets came off day lows as buying in defensive pockets like FMCG and pharma scrips capped the losses in heavyweights like L&T, ONGC and Tata Motors. At 1400 hrs, the Sensex was up five points at 27,873 and the Nifty was up three points to trade at 8,340.

Earlier in the day, the Nifty has touched a record high of 8,383, only to weighed down by profit taking at higher levels.

Buying was visible in the broader markets, as the mid and smallcap indices which were flat with a negative bias turned green. The midcap index gained 0.3% and the smallcap index was up 0.2% in noon trades while the BSE benchmark index was flat.

Sectors & Stocks

BSE Capital Goods, Bankex, Auto, IT, Metal, Oil and Gas indices were the top losers down 0.7-1%. Meanwhile, defensives pockets like FMCG index up 2.5% was the top sectoral gainer along with Healthcare index was up 0.8%.

Consumer Durables, Power and Realty indices up 0.3-0.4% were the other sectoral gainers on BSE.

Larsen and Toubro was down 2.5% and was the top loser among Sensex stocks on reports that the company management has said it might miss the annual revenue and margin forecast owing to delays in projects and problems in execution of hydrocarbon projects.

In the oil and gas space, Reliance Industries, GAIL and ONGC were down 0.2-3%.

Bank shares were largely in red after gaining last week. ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank was down 0.1-1.8%. SBI and HDFC added 0.2% each.

Auto shares continued to remain weak on the back of sluggish October sales growth. Tata Motors, M&M were down 0.6-1.8% while Maruti Suzuki and Bajaj Auto recovered from day lows and were up 0.4% and 0.2% respectively.

FMCG majors ITC and HUL gained 3.7% and 0.7% respectively. ITC was the top gainer among Sensex stocks.

In the pharma segment, Sun Pharma was up over 3% after its US subsidiary, Taro Pharmaceutical Industries, reported a strong 49% year on year growth in net profit to $143.4 million for the quarter ended September 2014. Dr Reddy's Labs was up 0.9%.

The market breadth was marginally negative on BSE. 1437 stocks declined while 1413 stocks advanced.

Global Markets

Asian shares gained on Monday after US jobs data pointed to solid economic growth, with Hong Kong leading the gains after regulators set a date for a long-awaited trading link between the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges to open.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1.2%, led by 1.8% gains in Hong Kong.

Japan's Nikkei bucked the regional trend, falling 0.6% as the yen rebounded on profit-taking in the dollar following the U.S. payrolls data.

In Europe, the major markets started in green. CAC, DAX and FTSE gained 0.1-0.6%.