Nifty holds 8,700; Infosys up 1%, HCL Tech up 3%

Markets extended gains after the first hour of trade led by information technology shares and rebuond in FMCG majors.

At 10:40AM, the 30-share Sensex was up 13 points at 28,723 and the 50-share Nifty was up 5 points at 8,717. BSE Realty index was the top gainer along with Bankex, IT, Oil and Gas among others.

Meanwhile, investors are trading with caution and are unwilling to take fresh positions ahead of the proceedings in the Parliament particularly with respect to the passage of key bills such as Land Acquisition Bill in Rajya Sabha.

"The markets are likely to trade sideways to positive. Higher level sell off and lower level support can cause volatility. For the Sensex, resistance is at 28822 above 28921 and 29007 while support is seen at 28584 below 28423. For the Nifty resistance is at 8746 above 8773 and 8801 and support is at 8700 below 8677, 8669 and 8638," Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services said in a technical note.

Further, foreign institutional investors turned net sellers in equities worth Rs 748 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional stock exchange data. They were also net sellers in the F&O segment to the tune of Rs 475 crore.

Analysts at Angel Broking suggest that the Nifty should ideally bounce from the strong support zone of 8,665-8,644. However, breaching of the same can drag the index to the next support of 8,500 mark.

"On the flipside, unless we see an immediate reversal from 8,665 levels and a close above 8,740; the downside will not have been stemmed. Thus, we continue to advice traders to stay cautious and avoid trading aggressively on long side. The immediate resistance for Nifty is placed at 8,740 and 8,780," they said in note.

Asian stock markets were trading marginally lower tracking sharp overnight losses in US stocks while the dollar further appreciated against the euro lifting the greenback to a 12-year high. Meanwhile, core machinery orders in Japan declined 1.7% in January from the previous month. The benchmark Nikkei was up 0.8% while Shanghai COmposite was up 0.3%. However, Hang Seng and Straits Times were down 0.2-0.4% each.

STOCKS & SECTORS

BSE IT and FMCG indices were the top sectoral gainers along with Consumer Durables index. Metal index was the top loser along with Healthcare and Realty indices.

Infosys was up 1.2%. The IT major on Tuesday said that its business process outsourcing services subsidiary Infosys BPO has opened a centre in Puerto Rico, South America. Among other IT majors, TCS and Wipro were up 0.2-2% each.

Mortgage lender HDFC was up 0.8% on the back of shortcovering at lower levels.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries was up 0.6%.

Meanwhile, FMCG major also rebounded after the recent correction. Hindustan Unilever was up 1.3% while ITC was up 0.4%.

In the telecom space, Bharti Airtel was down 1% after sharp gains of over 7% on Tuesday. However, Idea Cellular and Reliance Communications were up 0.8-1.8% each.

HCL Technologies was up nearly 3% after the company said it has fixed March 20 as record date for issue of bonus shares.

Among other shares, ABG Shipyard has dipped 5% to Rs 243 on BSE after the company denied the stake sale report and said that no such negotiations were taking place.

In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices pared early gains and were trading marginally lower.

Market breadth was strong with 1092 gainers and 984 losers on the BSE.