Nifty at 20-month high as Mayawati backs UPA on FDI

With BSP supremo Mayawati lending her support to the government in Rajya Sabha on the contentious issue of FDI in retail , the 50-share NSE benchmark Nifty touched a 20-month high of 5,937.40.

At 15.06 pm, the Sensex was up 78.5 points at 19470, and the Nifty up 23 points at 5923.4. The Sensex witnessed a 300-point reversal intra-day. Broader markets too are witnessing marked upmove with huge volumes being traded.

After a thumping victory in the Lok Sabha, FDI in multi-brand retail battle has shifted to Rajya Sabha. Mayawati's move today has clearly strengthened UPAs hands, and it appears the voting on Friday will go in favour of the ruling party. Political experts say the government has very tactfully played Samajwadi against the BSP, which helped in it getting closer to the number needed to win the Rajya Sabha vote.

Top Nifty gainers include Jaiprakash Associates, DLF, Axis Bank, Reliance Infra and Tata Motors. Among the sectoral indices, the BSE Realty Index gained, the BSE Auto Index and the BSE Metal Index pared all its losses. The IT index, however, remained in the red.