Markets recover from day's low, Metals shine

Benchmark indices have erased early losses and have turned varied with Sensex and Nifty swinging between negative and positive zone. The recovery was led by positive opening of European markets along with buying among Metal, PSU and Capital Goods shares.

By 14:30, the Sensex was up 5 points at 18,710 and the Nifty gained 2 points to 5,683.

On the global front, Japan's Nikkei share average fell to a one-week closing low on Thursday as concerns about Italy's funding costs and the rescue deal for Cyprus prompted investors to take profits on exporters.

The Nikkei closed 1.3% lower at 12,335.96, staying below its five-day moving average of 12,437.27 and moving away from a 4-1/2-year high of 12,650.26 struck last Thursday.

European markets have opened higher with CAC, DAX and FTSE gaining between 0.1-0.2%.

Back home, for the first 11 months of the current financial year, the Centre's fiscal deficit touched 97.4% of revised estimate (RE) for 2012-13, official data showed today.

In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit stood at Rs 5.07 lakh crore against Rs 5.21 lakh crore estimated in the RE, the data provided by the Controller General of Accounts revealed.

On the sectoral front, BSE Consumer Durable and Metal indices have gained by 2% each followed by counters like PSU, Capital Goods, IT and Healthcare, all gaining by 1% each. However, BSE Auto index is down by over 1%.

The main gainers on the Sensex at this hour include Hindalco, GAIL, ONGC, Sterlite, Coal India, DRL, Infosys, Tata Power and L&T, all surging between 1-4%.

Shares of automobile stocks are under pressure with many frontline stocks trading lower by up to 3% on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

Hero MotoCorp, Tata Motors, Mahindra and Mahindra, Bajaj Auto and Maruti Suzuki India are down by 1-3%.

NTPC dipped nearly 1% to Rs 141 on high volumes in the noon deals after the the company announced that power projects in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh are on track, remaining undeterred by current political developments in these places.

The broader markets are outperforming the benchmark with BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices up by nearly 1% each.

The market breadth in BSE remains positive with 1,391 shares advancing and 1,230 shares declining.