Sensex, Nifty retreat from record high levels

Key indices came off their day's highest levels, touched around 1100hrs, but continued to trade firm on back of buying in capital goods, banks and oil & gas stocks.

Larsen & Toubro, Infosys, ICICI Bank , Sun Pharma and Axis Bank are up 1-2% at this hour and are also the top gainers at the Bombay stock Exchage (BSE).

The 30-share Sensex is currently trading at 22,894 levels, up 135 points while NSE Nifty was up 31 points at 6848.

Earlier, benchmark indices hit their record high levels; Sensex touched its all-time high of 22,875.17 and the broader Nifty kissed 6,861.60 figure for first time.
 

Both mid-cap and small-cap indices at the BSE are up 0.6% at this hour performing in-line with benchmarks. 

Shares of Natco Pharma extended gains for the third straight session rising 10% to Rs 850 after a US Supreme Court ruling paved the way for the company to launch the generic version of Teva's Copaxone

Shasun Pharmaceuticals has moved higher by 6% to Rs 124, also its 52-week high on the BSE, ahead of the board meeting today to consider issuing convertible warrants/equity shares on a preferential basis to the promoters.

(Updated at 12.30hrs) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Markets surged in morning deals with Sensex up 105 points at 22,864 and the Nifty gained 23 points at 6,839.

Infosys, L&T, HDFC Bank, RIL and ONGC together contributed 61 points to the gain seen on the Sensex.

The mid and smallcap indices edged higher by 0.5% each.

The rupee weakened past the key 61 per dollar mark on Wednesday to hit a one-month low, tracking losses in regional currencies and hurt by good demand for the greenback from oil importers.

The partially convertible rupee was trading at 61.01 per dollar by 9:23 am, after hitting as much as 61.03, its lowest since March 21.
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(Updated at 1000 hrs)
Markets opened higher led by IT majors Infosys and TCS. However, gains are likely to be capped as investors are likely to turn cautious with April derivative contracts set to expire today.

At 0916 hrs, the Sensex was up 60 points at 22,818 and the Nifty gained 16 points to trade at 6,831.

In the broader markets, both the mid and smallcap indices were up 0.4% each in opening trades.

Asian stocks with the exception of Japan pared early gains as investors turned cautious ahead of China's manufacturing PMI in April.

Major US stock indices ended higher on Tuesday with the broader S&P 500 and tech-laden Nasdaq gaining for the sixth straight session aided by encouraging earnings and positive developments in the healthcare sector.

The Dow Jones ended up 0.4% at 16,514.37, the S&P 500 gained 0.4% to close at 1,879.55 and the tech-laden Nasdaq ended up 1% at 4,161.46.

Sectors & Stocks

On the sectoral front, Realty index was down 0.5% and Banking, Metal and Consumer Durables indices were flat with a negative bias.

IT, Auto, Oil & Gas and Capital Goods indices up 0.5-0.7% were the major sectoral gainers in the opening trades.

NTPC, Hindalco, ICICI Bank, Wipro and Axis Bank down 0.3-0.6% were the only losers among Sensex-30.

ONGC, BHEL, Gail India, L&T, Infosys and Mahindra & Mahindra up 1% each were leading the gainers list.

Bharti Airtel, HDFC, Tata Motors, HDFC Bank, TCS, Dr Reddys Lab and Sun Pharma adding on 0.5-0.9% were the otehr notable movers.

Among other stocks, Rallis India surged 6% to Rs 176 on the BSE after the agrochemicals company reported a 71% year-on-year (yoy) jump in net profit at Rs 19.3 crore for the quarter ended March 2014. The Tata group firm had posted a net profit of Rs 11.26 crore in the same period last year.

The market breadth was positive on BSE. 876 stocks advanced while 383 stocks declined.