Sensex up over 250 points; RIL, ICICI Bank up 2%

Financials gained after the RBI allowed banks to take control of debt-laden companies by converting loans into equity

Markets rebounded today amid short covering and value buying after losses in the previous few sessions with private lenders and capital goods shares leading the gains.

At 1:15PM, the 30-share Sensex was up 305 points at 26,786 and the 50-share Nifty was up 86 points at 8,109.

The rupee firmed up further and was trading at 63.85 to the US dollar compared with the previous close of 63.92 tracking gains in domestic equities.

Meanwhile, US index provider MSCI Inc has told China it must further liberalise its capital markets before it will include Chinese domestic shares in one of its global benchmarks, in a setback for Beijing's efforts to promote its currency and attract foreign capital.

SECTORS & STOCKS

All sectoral indices on the BSE were trading with gains led by Capital Goods up nearly 2% followed by Auto and Bankex among others.

Bank shares extended gains after the RBI allowed banks to take control of debt-laden companies by converting loans into equity. ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank and SBI were up 1.2-2.1% each.

Capital Goods shares firmed up on expectations of orders from the Mumbai coastal project. Further, the April IIP numbers are due for release on Friday. L&T was up 2.3% while BHEL gained 3.4%.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries has gained over 2% on the BSE ahead of the annual general meeting on June 12.

Renewed buying interest was also seen in auto stocks with Tata Motors, M&M, Bajaj Auto ,Maruti and Hero MotoCorp up 0.7-1.5% each.

Bharti Airtel was up 1.5% on reports that the telecom major has raised 2G and 3G rates for its pre-paid customers by 13-18%.

Other Sensex gainers include, Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, and TCS among others.

Among other shares, Polaris COnsulting was down 6% after the stock was quoted ex-dividend today, after the company announced a final dividend of Rs 10 per share for the year ended March 31, 2015.

In the broader markets, the BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices were up 1.1% each.

Market breadth was strong with 1,618 gainers and 769 losers on the BSE