Nifty holds 8,150, Midcap outperforms; HDFC surges 3%

Benchmark indices continue to maintain the upbeat trend aided by positive global cues along with buying demand among rate-sensitive sectors like auto, banks and realty.

At 2:38 PM, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 26,485, up 136 points, while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 8,177, up 49 points. Among broader markets, BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices have added nearly 1% each.

Investors’ have turned cautious ahead of two-day meet of the monetary policy committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) which is scheduled to begin today.

In the political front, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, J Jayalalithaa, died yesterday after undergoing treatment at Apollo Hospitals in Chennai. She was 68.

"Nifty now has support at 8,060 where it has multiple support and 8,000 being second important support. Immediate resistance on higher side is 8,165 where we have 200 Days SMA. Banks both private and PSU may perform well in coming sessions while pharma sector may see some buying," said Mustafa Nadeem, CEO, Epic Research.

Among overseas markets, Asian shares were trading higher as investors judged the selloff after Italy's referendum was overdone, with robust US economic data also helping sentiment.

In US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished at a record yesterday as solid economic data offset concerns about Europe's stability in the wake of a rejection of Italy's vote on Sunday to reform existing constitutional rules.

Back home, the six-member monetary policy committee headed by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Urjit Patel is likely to cut the policy rate by at least 25 basis points in the December 6-7 policy review.

Top gainers from the Sensex pack are HDFC, GAIL, NTPC, Wipro and ONGC, all surging between 1%-3%. On the losing side, HUL, ITC, Power Grid, Sun Pharma and Hero Moto are down 0.4%-1.2%.

Among other shares, Indian Metals & Ferro Alloys (IMFA) has locked in upper circuit of 5% at Rs 475, also its 52-week high on the BSE.

Tata Power was up 4% at Rs 75.95 on the BSE in intra-day trade after the company’s strategic engineering division, Tata Power SED has won an order worth over Rs 200 crore from Ministry of Defence.

Balmare Lawrie & Co hit a record high of Rs 1,049, up 4% on the BSE in early morning trade.