Nifty facing resistance above 7,650; IT shares firm

Markets continued to trade firm led by IT shares amid upbeat US economic data

Markets continued to remain range bound in noon trades on Monday as profit taking at higher levels capped further gains.

At 1:45PM, the 30-share Sensex was up 155 points at 25,636 and the 50-share Nifty was up 55 points at 7,658.

The Indian rupee continued to trade above Rs 61 at Rs 61.12 compared to the previous close of Rs 61.18 after the dollar weakened against most Asian currencies. Further, rebound in equities also aided sentiment.

Asian shares were trading mixed on concerns over geopolitical tensions and Argentina's debt default. The Nikkei ended down 0.3% at 15,474.50 while the Straits Times was trading 0.6% lower on profit taking after recent gains. Shares in China were trading higher with the benchmark Shanghai Composite up 1.7% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng up 0.2%.

European shares were trading with marginal gains in early trades but further gains are likely to be capped amid concerns over losses in Portugal's largest listed bank Banco Espirito Santo. The FTSE, CAC-40 and DAX were up 0.2-0.3% each.

The BSE IT index was the top sectoral gainer along with Consumer Durables, Auto, FMCG, Capital Goods, Oil and Gas among others.

IT shares firmed up on the back of upbeat US economic data as they earn most of their revenues from exports to the US. Infosys was up nearly 4%, Wipro gained 2.1% and TCS was trading with marginal gains.

Larsen & Toubro which had corrected last week post its June quarter earnings also witnessed buying at lower levels and was up nearly 1%.

Auto shares rallied on the back of upbeat sales growth in the month of July. Tata Motors was up 1.1%, M&M gained 1.6% while Maruti Suzuki and Bajaj Auto were up over 1% each.

Other Sensex gainers include ITC and ICICI Bank.

Among other shares, La Opala RG has rallied 7% to Rs 1,327, extending its 10% gain in past three trading sessions on BSE, after the company said its board approved to issue 0.5 million shares representing 4.74% stake to private equity (PE) firm WestBridge Capital for about Rs 55 crore.

In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap index was up 0.5% and the Small-cap index was up 1%.

Market breadth was strong with 1,650 gainers and 1,034 losers on the BSE.