Nifty at 6,200; ONGC down 2%

Banks, Capital Goods and Realty names among the top gainers

Markets started on a strong note after the September quarter gross domestic product (GDP) expanded faster than what the market was expecting. The BSE benchmark index was up 70 points at 20,862 and the Nifty gained 23 points to trade at 6,200 in the opening deals.

In the broader markets, the midcap index was up 0.6% and the smallcap index gained 0.7%, both outperforming the Sensex which gained 0.3%.

For the week, analysts expect the market to find support at 6000-level and touch highs of 6230 levels. "Volatility would continue through the week until the Nifty crosses the 6300-mark," said Shubham Agarwal, vice-president senior analyst technical equities, Motilal Oswal.

Meanwhile, Asian shares edged lower and the dollar gave up some of its recent gains against the yen on Monday, as investors cautiously awaited key U.S. data this week and took heart from a decent reading on China manufacturing.

China's factory activity maintained steady growth momentum in November, boosted by resilient new orders, though the pace of expansion eased slightly from October, final HSBC/Markit Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) showed.

The final PMI reading came in at 50.8 in November, down from 50.9 in October but improving from a preliminary reading of 50.4.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down about 0.1%, paring losses after the PMI survey, while Japan's benchmark Nikkei shed 0.2%.

Back home, except Oil & Gas index, all the other sectoral indices started in the green with gains of atleast 0.1%.

Capital Goods and Bankex indices were up 1% each followed by Realty, Power, Health Care and Consumer Durables indices up 0.6-0.9%.

Metal, FMCG, Auto, Teck and PSU indices added 0.1-0.4%.

The only losers among the Sensex-30 were ONGC down 2%, HUL, M&M, Tata Steel, Gail India and Infosys down 0.1-1%.

BHEL and Sesa Sterlite up nearly 2% each were the top gainers in the opening trades.

ICICI Bank, L&T, Tata Power and Tata Motors up 1-1.7% along with  SBI, HDFC, Cipla, RIL, Bharti Airtel, NTPC, Sun Pharma, ITC and Bajaj Auto up 0.4-0.9% were the other major gainers.

The market breadth was very positive. 806 stocks advanced while 522 stocks declined on the BSE.