Sensex gains over 100 pts; IT & banks recover

Benchmark indices have recovered from early lows and have reached near day’s high led by IT and bank shares.

By 10:27, the Sensex was higher by 130 points at 21,193 mark and the Nifty surged by 39 points at 6,300 levels.

Adds Ravi Nathani, technical analyst, Nsetoday.com, “If Nifty slips below 6220 that we might see support around 6160. Om charts trend is up therefore with a strict stoploss of 6220 as per closing basis, traders must buy nifty on dips.”

On the sectoral front, BSE IT, Bankex, Capital Goods, Consumer Durables and Auto indices have gained by 1% each.

The main gainers on the Sensex are Wipro, Hindalco, TCS, Tata Motors and SBI, all surging between 1-3%.

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Updated at 10:10

Benchmark indices continue to remain volatile in a narrow range with Sensex and Nifty oscillating between negative and positive zone.

By 10:10, the Sensex was lower by 19 points at 21,045 mark and the Nifty dipped by 3 points at 6,258 levels.

Adds Ravi Nathani, technical analyst, Nsetoday.com, “If Nifty slips below 6220 that we might see support around 6160. Om charts trend is up therefore with a strict stoploss of 6220 as per closing basis, traders must buy nifty on dips.”

After the BSE Sensex last week posted its biggest gain, some profit-booking is seen at higher levels. Trends in investment by Foreign Institutional Investors, movement in global markets and the rupee trajectory would be keenly watched for cues.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs), a major driver of the Indian stock markets, have increased their shareholding in 21 companies of 30-Sensex constituents in the October-December quarter, according to the shareholding pattern of the blue-chip companies.

Stock markets will take cues from the next batch of earnings from blue-chips, including HDFC and L&T, this week amid cautious trading ahead of the RBI policy later this month, say experts.

Asian Paints and UltraTech Cement will unveil the Q3 numbers today. Major corporate announcing results this week include Ashok Leyland, HDFC, L&T and Cairn India.

On the global front, Asian markets managed a muted cheer on Monday as China reported economic growth that was a fraction ahead of forecasts, though it was not enough to brighten the general mood of risk aversion.

Most share markets in the region stayed in the red with Tokyo off 0.6%, Sydney 0.45% and Shanghai 0.2%. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan pared its losses but was still down 0.2%.

Back home, the rupee was lower on global dollar strength, with the pair at 61.58/59 versus its Friday's close of 61.54/55.

Strong fund inflows continue into debt, with data showing six consecutive sessions of buying through Thursday, totalling over $2.5 billion, helping support the rupee.

BSE Oil & Gas, Capital Goods, Realty and FMCG have fallen between 0.1-1%. However, BSE Auto, TECk and IT indices have gained by nearly 1%.

The main losers on the Sensex at this hour include RIL, Axis Bank, HUL, HDFC, Sun Pharm and Sterlite.

On the gaining side, Wipro, Hindalco, TCS, ONGC and Tata Motors have gained between 1-2%.

Among other shares, Reliance MediaWorks has surged 16% to Rs 53.90 after the company said it is planning to delist its shares from the bourses.

Aurobindo Pharma is trading higher by 4% at Rs 397 after the company announced the signing of a binding offer to acquire commercial operations in seven Western European countries from Actavis.

The broader markets are outperforming the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are up between 0.4-1%.

The market breadth in BSE remains positive with 857 shares advancing and 620 shares declining.