Markets trim early gains; Nifty holds 7,800

Profit booking was seen at higher levels with IT majors Infosys and banks emerging as the top losers

Markets trimmed early gains amid profit taking at higher levels with IT major Infosys and select banks emerging as the top losers.

At 9:30am, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 31 points at 25,655 and the Nifty50 was up 15 points at 7,806.

"For the Nifty resistance is seen at 7,799 above 7,833 and 7,858 while support for the Nifty is seen at 7,778 below 7,748, 7715 and 7,706," Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services said in a note.

HDFC contributed the most to the Sensex gains alonf with Tata Motors and engineering major L&T.

Foreign Investors were net sellers in equities worth Rs 667 crore, as per provisional stock exchange data.

On Monday, benchmark shares indices crashed over 2%, amid a sell-off in Asia and Europe, after suspension of trading in Chinese shares post the sharp plunge in Shanghai Composite.

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian stocks were trading with marginal gains with Chinese stocks witnessing a recovery from early lows after the rout in the previous session. Shanghai Composite was up 0.4% while Nikkei rose 0.4%. Among others, Hang Seng was trading flat with negative bias while Straits Times was trading flat.

US stocks started the year 2016 on a weak note after the sell-off in Chinese stocks and weak US factory activity in December weighed on investor sentiment. The Dow Jones ended down 1.6% at 17,149, the broader S&P 500 ended down 1.5% at 2,013 and the tech-laden Nasdaq ended 2% lower at 4,903.

SECTORS & STOCKS

Most sectoral indices were in the green except for Consumer Durables. Realty index was the top gainer up followed by Metal and Power indices.

Engineering major L&T was up nearly 1% after its IT subsidiary L&T Infotech received clearance from market regulator Sebi for its proposed Rs 2,000 crore IPO.

Among the index heavyweights Reliance Industries, ITC and HDFC were up 0.3%-0.7% each.

Tata Motors was up over 1% after the sharp fall in the previous session on concerns that JLR sales in China could be hit after recent data showed the world's second largest economy continues to remain sluggish.

Among other shares, Siti Cable Network surged nearly 10% after the RBI allowed FIIs/FPIs to invest upto 49% of the paid-up capital of the company.