Sensex gains over 400 points, Oil shares surge

Markets are trading at day’s high with Sensex and Nifty trading above the 18,400 mark and the 5,400 levels, respectively, led by FMCG, oil and capital goods shares.  Firm global cues have also supported the upward movement.

At 15:05 PM, the 30-share Sensex gained 311 points at 18,402 and the 50-share Nifty added 124 points at 5,410 levels.

Foreign brokerage company Bank of America-Merrill Lynch (BoAML) today pegged the first quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth at 4%.
 

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Updated at 14:04 PM

Benchmark indices edged higher in noon deals tracking gains in FMCG, oil and gas and financials shares. Also the Rupee strengthened in today's trade after Reserve Bank of India's move to provide dollars directly to oil companies.

At 1400 hrs, the Sensex was up 347 points at 18,343 and the Nifty advanced 107 points to trade at 5,392.

In the broader markets, midcap index was up over 1% and the smallcap index gained 0.6%, both underperforming the BSE benchmark index which was up nearly 2%.

Rupee recovered to the levels of 67.71/$ in noon trades after the central bank said it has started a facility to meet the daily dollar requirement of the country's three state-run refiners.

Meanwhile, Asian shares recouped some of the two previous sessions' steep losses on Thursday as fears abated that U.S.-led forces would soon launch a military strike on Syria, and oil prices retreated from a six-month peak.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 1% after falling 2.2% in the previous two sessions.

Japan's Nikkei share average, advanced 0.8% in light trade, helped by the safe-haven yen giving up some of the recent gains that had taken it to a three-week high against the dollar.

European shares too started trading in the green ahead of consumer price data. FTSE 100 was up 0.7% and DAX and CAC was up 0.4% each.

Back home, on the sectoral front, BSE Capital Goods, Metal, FMCG and Oil & Gas indices surged 2% each.  Bankex, Teck, Consumer Durables, Power and IT indices too gained 1-2%.

The main gainers on the Sensex were Sesa Goa, HDFC, Hindalco, RIL, Bharti Airtel, TCS and L&T, up 1-9.5%.

Dr Reddys Lab, ITC, Hindustan Unilever and ONGC which gained 2-3% were the other notable gainers.

Coal India down 1.5%, Infosys and Cipla losing 0.4% and 0.1% were the only names in the red among the Sensex-30.

The market breadth was positive. 1,171 stocks advanced while 888 stocks declined on the BSE.