Markets remain positive, Nifty holds 7,150; ONGC, L&T surge

Top gainer from the Sensex pack are Dr Reddy's Labs, L&T, ONGC, Hero Moto and ICICI Bank

Benchmark indices continue to trade higher amid choppiness tracking strong global cues along with buying among capital goods and oil shares leading the gains.

At 11:30 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 196 points at 23,578 and the Nifty50 was up 59 points at 7,166.

In the macro-economic front, Indian economy will grow at 7.5% in 2016 and 2017 as it is relatively less exposed to external headwinds, like China slowdown, and will benefit from lower commodity prices, Moody's Investors Service said today.

The top gainer from the Sensex pack are Dr Reddy’s Labs, L&T, ONGC, Hero Moto and ICICI Bank, all surging between 3%-5%.

Shares of oil exploration & production companies such as Cairn India, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India – were trading higher by up to 6% on the bourses after a sharp surge in global crude oil prices.

Among individual stocks, Cairn India surged 6% to Rs 134, followed by ONGC which gained 5% at Rs 209, and Oil India jumped 3.4% to Rs 327 on the BSE. At 10:45 AM, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 1.3% or 304 points at 23,687.

Glenmark Pharma has surged over 5% at Rs 758.25 after the company announced the receipt of tentative approval from USFDA for its generic version of azelaic acid topical gel that is used for treating skin inflammation.

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Updated at 10:35 am

Markets came off their early highs as investors turned cautious and booked partial profits.

At 10:35am, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 263 points at 23.645 and the Nifty50 was up 79 points at 7,188.

Sensex gains were led by L&T, ICICI Bank and Infosys among others.

Among other shares, Surya Roshni was up nearly 4% at Rs 134 on the Bombay Stock Exchange after the company said it has received an order for supply of LED bulbs and street lights for various states.

Shares of Quick Heal Technologies listed at Rs 305, 5% below the issue price of Rs 321 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The stock is currently trading at Rs 316.
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(updated at 9:30am)
Markets are likely to open the session on a higher note mirroring a firm trend in the global peers helped by a sharp recovery in the crude oil prices. Meanwhile, encouraging US macrodata and Fed comments are likely to boost sentiment.

At 9:30am, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 325 points at 23,707 and the Nifty50 was up 96 points at 7,205.

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap index was up 1.3% while the Smallcap index was up 1.2%.

Market breadth was positive with 982 gainers and 134 losers on the BSE.

"For the Nifty resistance is seen at 7145 above 7151, 7165 and 7200 while support is seen at 7055 below 7046 and 6969," Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services said in a note.

Foreign Institutional Investors were net sellers in equities to the tune of Rs 560 crore on Wednesday as per provisional stock exchange data.

The Indian rupee was trading 12 paise higher at 68.35 to the US dollar in early trades tracking firm trend in domestic equities.

SECTORS & STOCKS

BSE Capital Goods index was the top gainer up 1.6% followed by Bankex, Oil & Gas indices among others.

In the banking space, ICICI Bank was the top gainer up 2.4% followed by HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, SBI, PNB, Bank of Baroda among others.

Renewed buying interest was seen in index heavyweights Reliance Industries, ITC and Infosys which gained over 1% each.

Among other Sensex stocks, Bharti Airtel and Adani Ports were trading with marginal losses.

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian markets were trading higher tracking firm overnight cues from Wall Street. Japanese shares rose the most with the Nikkei up 2.5% while Hang Seng was up over 2%. Further, Shanghai Composite was trading flat with marginal gains while Straits Times was up 1.7%.

US stocks ended higher amid encouraging economic data. Industrial production for January rose 0.9%, while capacity utilization was 77.1%. The Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 posted their first three-day win streak of 2016 and the tech-laden Nasdaq composite outperformed, closing 2.2 % higher.

CRUDE OIL

US oil prices surged nearly 8% on Wednesday after a fall drop in crude inventories. Furthermore, oil futures bounced back from their lowest levels after Iran voiced support for a move led by Russia and Saudi Arabia to freeze production in an oversupplied market.