Nifty hovers around 6,830; metals drag

Reliance industries, L&T, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank among the top gainers of the hour

After a brief dip into negative territory, the benchmark indices regained its lost gain to edge higher on account of buying in index heavyweights like Reliance industries, L&T, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank.

At 1400 hrs, the Sensex was up 54 points at 22,818 and the Nifty was hovering close to its all time high hit in intra-day trades at 6,831, up 14 points.

 The BSE Sensex hit a fresh high of 22,853.03, while the Nifty scaled a new peak of 6,838.

In the broader markets, the mid and smallcap indices added 0.3% each, continuing to outperform the BSE benchmark index which up nearly 0.2%.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 212.85 crore on Monday, 21 April 2014, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.

Sectors & Stocks

On the sectoral front, BSE Capital Goods and Oil & Gas indices surged by over 1.5% each. However, BSE Metal and FMCG indices declined by 0.5% each.

The main gainers on the Sensex at this hour include GAIL, L&T, ONGC, RIL, HDFC Bank, Coal India and ICICI Bank, all gaining between 1-2%.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries trimmed intraday gains after hitting 52-week high.

Oil and gas stocks have gained on renewed buying with shares of BPCL scaling record high and HPCL hitting 52-week high.

Metal and mining stocks were mostly lower ahead of provisional reading of HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics Ltd.'s China manufacturing purchasing managers' index due tomorrow.

The main losers on the Sensex were Sesa Sterlite, Wipro, ITC, Cipla, Infosys and HUL down 0.7-3%.

The market breadth was positive on BSE. 1,449 stocks advanced while 1,228 stocks declined.

Rupee

The rupee was trading at 60.76 after hitting 60.8250, its lowest since March 24 on the back of heavy dollar demand from oil importers. The unit closed at 60.59/60 on Monday, after posting its biggest single-day loss in more than a month.

Traders expect some consolidation in the pair later in the session. The pair is likely to hold in a 60.50 to 60.90 range for the rest of the session, dealers say.

Most Asian currencies are also trading weaker compared with the dollar. The Indonesian rupiah led declines among emerging Asian currencies with the dollar holding firm and as worries about liquidity and earnings in China hurt regional stocks.

Global Markets

In Asia, extended weakness in Chinese shares, driven by worries over liquidity and earnings, put a brake on other Asian stock markets on Tuesday despite Wall Street stocks rallying into a fifth session.

Japan's Nikkei share average began the day with a small gain and eventually fell 0.4 percent. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was almost flat, while trading not far from a six-month high hit earlier this month.

The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.8 percent to around 2,048 points on Tuesday, following a loss of 1.5 percent the previous day.

Chinese stocks have been hit by concerns about a potential share oversupply after the securities regulator released draft prospectuses for 28 new firms planning to list, marking the resumption of initial public offerings after a two-month hiatus.

Taking cues from Wall Street, European markets started higher with Britain's FTSE up 0.8%, Germany's DAX gained 1% and France's CAC added 0.6%.