Sensex ends above 27,900 amid volatile session

Benchmark indices have ended higher amid volatile trading session led by index heavyweight HDFC and capital goods shares.  

Provisionally, the Sensex gained 134.71 points to end at 27,944.06 and the Nifty rose 27.80 points to close at 8,448.80.

  ______________________

(updated at 3.30 PM)

The markets have trimmed some of their gains in the afternoon session, after testing the crucial 28,000 mark, but are still trading firm.

At 2:30pm, the Sensex was at 27,973, higher by 164 points or 0.6% and the Nifty was at 8,463, up 42 points.

The broader market space is, however, outperforming the benchmark indices; the midcap and smallcap indices have edged higher by 0.2% each at 10,629 andx 11,222 respectively.

The markets had touched their highest levels in a month, with the Sensex re-claiming the psychological 28,000 mark earlier in the trading session.

BUZZING STOCKS

All the BSE sectoral indices are trading in the green, with the exception of Consumer Durables.

The FMCG and capital goods indices have gained nearly 1% each.

In the FMCG space, ITC has strengthened by 1% ahead of its Q4 numbers scheduled during the day. Britanni Industries, Dabur India and Bombay Burmah have rallied 2-6% each.

In the capital goods space, ABB India, BEML, L&T and BHEL have rallied 1-4% each.

Financials are trading higher on hopes of easing of the monetary policy by the RBI that would encourage borrowing and induce growth.

Among financials, HDFC, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank are up around 1% each.

State Bank of India (SBI) is trading 1% higher at Rs 292, albeit off its highs, after the bank reported a better-than-expected 23% year on year jump in standalone net profit at Rs 3,742 crore for the quarter ended March 2015 (Q4) on account of lower provisioning for bad loans. The shares had surged as much as 5% to Rs 305 immediately after the result announcement, but subsequently pared their gains.

In the wider banking space, City Union Bank, IndusInd Bank, Federal Bank, Yes Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank have gained 1-2% each.

The market breath is marginally weak. Out of 2,665 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 1,222 advancing stocks as against 1,322 declines.