BSE Sensex rises for third session; Coal India surges

By Abhishek Vishnoi

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The Nifty posted slight gains for a second consecutive session, continuing to be supported at its 200-day moving average, as blue-chips such as ITC recovered on bargain-hunting after the index had fallen steeply over the previous two weeks. The Sensex gained 0.25 percent.

The index recovered after briefly slumping as much as 0.95 percent in the morning, after multiple trades were placed shorting index futures in early trades, several dealers said.

Gains also tracked higher global shares ahead of a euro zone monetary policy decision later on Thursday and emerging stocks rebounding from this week's five-month lows.

Investors, however, remain cautious with the U.S. non-farm payrolls report as well as India's advance economic growth estimates for 2013/14 looming on Friday.

"India's GDP may better estimates but U.S. jobs data would give cues on how Fed would react to stimulus in future, which is of utmost importance to all emerging markets," said Deven Choksey, managing director at K R Choksey Securities.

The Nifty rose 0.23 percent, or 13.90 points, to end at 6,036.30.

The Sensex rose 49.71 points, to end at 20,310.74, rising for a third consecutive session.

Among blue-chip shares, ITC gained 1.8 percent, while HDFC Bank rose 1.5 percent.

Coal India surged 4.7 percent while Hindustan Unilever rose 2.9 percent.

Tata Communications shares surged 8 percent after South Africa's Vodacom Group VODJ.J said it was close to finalising negotiations with the company for the purchase of its Neotel unit.

ACC gained 1.8 percent after the company's December-quarter consolidated net profit rose 10.5 percent to 2.76 billion rupees, beating some analysts estimates.

Jet Airways surged 10.7 percent after India's competition regulator on Wednesday approved Etihad Airways' 50.1 percent stake buy in its frequent flier unit.

However, IT companies fell after Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp forecast 2014 revenue below analysts' expectations on Wednesday, raising concerns about the sector's growth prospects, dealers said.

Infosys fell 0.5 percent while Tata Consultancy Services ended 0.9 percent lower.

(Editing by Sunil Nair)