Rate sensitives march ahead, Sensex up 77pts

Markets have recovered marginally from the lows on the back of buying in rate sensitives - realty and auto stocks. The Sensex gained 58 from its lows of 18,782 and was now trading with a marginal gain of 77 points at 18,840. Nifty was up 25 points at 5,652.

Sustained buying by FIIs have also cheered the markets. According to provisional data, FIIs have invested Rs 2,662.7 crore in June in India.

Markets across Asia advanced in the trades today led by firm US manufacturing data and easing of concerns over Greece. Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng have gained 1.7% each. Nikkei has added 1% to 9,965.

BSE realty index gained 3.6% at 2,157. DLF jumped 6% to Rs 234. Sobha Developers, Anant Raj Industries, Godrej Properties and HDIL surged 3-5% each.

The auto sector also moved up on the back of good sales figures for the month of June. Tata Motors surged 2.8% to Rs 1,023. The auto majors' sales declined marginally in June to 66,358 units. Mahindra & Mahindra gained 1.2%, followed by Bajaj Auto and Hero Honda. Bajaj  Auto sales in June have reportedly gone up by 16% at 366,657 units.

Bankex, oil & gas and IT stocks were also in the green.

Reliance Infra gained 4.5% to Rs 566. Jaiprakash Associates added 2% to Rs 82.85 after reporting a 3% jump in cement despatches. Cipla, HDFC Bank, Reliance and Sterlite were some of the other big gainers.

Meanwhile, Tata Steel slipped 1.2% to Rs 595. Larsen & Toubro, ITC and NTPC slipped 0.5-1% each.

Investors are now looking at the earnings season for market direction. Corporate results are set to trickle in from July 8, after HDFC announces its quarter 1 numbers. Infosys is set to report Q1 numbers on July 12, 2011.

BSE market breadth was positive. Out of 2,707 stocks traded, 1,666 have advanced while 928 have declined.