Sensex up over 200 pts; Cap goods lead

Markets continue to trade higher led by buying in financials and other heavyweights on benchmark indices. Stocks of the oil & gas sector rose by more than 1% on Monday, outperforming the benchmark indices, as the price of Brent crude fell by more than $2 per barrel. Oil prices fell as Iran and the world powers signed a landmark nuclear deal over the weekend. The BSE oil & gas sector index was up 1.4%.

Analysts said that the drop in oil prices would help in bringing down the current account deficit and also help in keeping inflation under control.

The rise in oil stocks was led by BPCL, which was up 4.3%, followed by Reliance Industries which was up 0.5% and Indian Oil was up 2.6% on BSE.

At 12:53am, the 30-share BSE Sensex was up 347 points at 20,441 and the Nifty gained 69 points to trade at 6,065.

"Yes, I think after struggling below the 50 DMA for 2 days, Nifty is back above it. Short term trend is positive now, and with that timeframe in view, we believe one could look at building short term long positions," said Kunal Bothra, Technical Analyst, LKP Securities

The broader markets advanced with both the mid and smallcap indices up between 0.6-0.7% on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

The drop in Brent crude prices by more than $2 a barrel following a breakthrough nuclear deal between world powers and Iran over the weekend added to the positive sentiment. The fall in oil prices will narrow the current deficit and help keep inflation under check.

Also, the rupee was trading strong in morning trade due to dollar sale by exporters and banks.At 12:48pm, the Indian currency was trading at Rs 62.60 compared with Friday's close of Rs 62.83 per dollar. However, currency dealers see month end dollar putting pressure on the rupee later during the day.

The Nikkei climbed 1.5 percent on Monday to within sight of a 5-1/2 year peak reached in May, propelled by exporters with the yen slumping versus the dollar and investors expecting the Bank of Japan to keep its stimulus drive even as the Fed tapers off.

Most Asian share indices were trading higher with the exception of Shanghai Composite which was down 0.4%. Japan's Nikkei led the gainers in the region up 1.3% on the back of a weaker yen. Further, the Hang Seng and Straits Times were marginally up 0.1% each.

Shares in Hong Kong are higher today as the Hang Seng gains 0.14%. The stock markets in Tokyo and Shanghai are closed at this time.

Among industry wise sector indices on BSE: Banks, Realty and Capital Goods are up 2.1-2.6% while PSU, FMCG, Oil & Gas, Auto and Metal are up between 1-1.6%.

Infosys marginally in the red by 0.1% was the only losers among the Sensex-30.

ICICI Bank, ITC, HDFC Bank, L&T, Tata Motors and Reliance were up 1-3.8% were the top Sensex gainers. Infosys, Bharti Airtel, and Dr. Reddy's are the only losers on the Sensex index.

Other Shares

DIC India was locked in upper circuit of 20% at Rs 283 on NSE after the company informed exchanges that its promoter DIC Asia Pacific Pte Ltd has indicated a price of Rs 260 for the proposed delisting. The de-listing offer price is about 10% premium to DIC India’s closing price of Rs 235.5 on Friday.

Pfizer surged over 8% to Rs 1,552 after announcing a special interim dividend of 36000% or Rs 360 per share.

Wyeth rallied 14.6% to Rs 933 after the board of directors of the pharmaceutical company approved the merger of the company with Pfizer.

The market breadth was strong with 1290 advances and 678 declines on the BSE