Nifty advances 22 pts in see-saw trade; pharma, FMCG stocks up

Firm global sentiment amid fag-end trading frenzy in select heavyweights helped the bourses rise for the second straight day after a decidedly weak start to the trading session today.
The bellwether Nifty index opened modestly higher at 7,873.55 and moved in a tight range of 7,896.90 and 7,837.70 before closing at 7,887.80, showing a gain of 21.75 points, or 0.28 per cent.
However, the broader market mood remained uneasy and volatile against the backdrop of ongoing earnings season.
Prominent heavyweights SBI and Asian Paints will announce their Q4 results tomorrow.
Buoyant overseas sentiment provided some comfort for domestic investors after Chinese inflation data showed consumer prices rose 2.3 per cent year on year in April, while wholesale prices fell 3.4 per cent, easing concerns about the health of China's economy.

Overcoming initial hiccups, equities rebounded smartly in late afternoon as value buying activity re-emerged along with modest short-covering, tracking firm Asian closing and higher European shares.

Most Asian equities finished higher, with the Japanese benchmark Nikkei surging 2.15 per cent, followed by HangSeng (0.43 per cent), Kospi (0.75 per cent) and Shanghai (0.04 per cent).
Among the sectoral indices, healthcare, realty, infra, banking and FMCG saw follow up buying interest.
However, metal and auto fell the most, sliding over 1.25 and 0.98 per cent respectively on fresh profit-taking.
Energy stocks also lost some ground along with mid-cap.
Notable index movers were Infosys, HDFC, L&T, Axis Bank, HUL, Dr Reddy's, Kotak Mahindra, ITC, HDFC Bank, TCS, Grasim, Bharti Infratel, GAIL, SBI, Lupin, ACC and Bharti Airtel.

Major laggards included Tata Motors, Bosch, ONGC, ITC, Eicher Motors, NTPC, Adani Ports, Asian Paints and Power Grid.
Turnover in cash segment firmed up to Rs 16,384.07 crore against Rs 16,156.75 crore yesterday.
A total of 8,140.91 lakh shares changed hands in 71,96,014 trades. The market capitalisation of the NSE stood at Rs 95,26,002 crore.