Nifty choppy with positive bias; banks gain

ALSO READ See Key Market Stats - Top Gainers/ Losers, Most Actives, Highs/Lows See how Global Markets are trading Indian ADRs Nifty BSE | NSE 25/05/12 Are Mutual Funds betting on Nifty?

At 11:55 hours IST - the 50-share NSE Nifty cpntinued trading in positive terrain, led by rate sensitives. Capital goods companies' shares along with NTPC, Reliance Industries, HUL, SAIL and Bharti Airtel were other gainers in trade.

There was a bit of volatility as markets were consolidating post 5600 level crossed by Nifty. The sell-off in ONGC, Sterlite, ITC, TCS, Wipro, Hindalco, Reliance Communications, HDFC and Tata Steel along with healthcare, cement and private power companies' shares was aiding to choppiness.

The Sensex was trading at 18745, up 78 points and the Nifty was at 5622, up 14 points. The broader indices were outperforming benchmarks; were up 0.8% each.

Top gainers - SBI was trading at Rs 2,957, up 2.17%; HDFC Bank was at Rs 2,227, up 2.05%; M&M was at Rs 647.10, up 1.85%; ICICI Bank was at Rs 1,040.50, up 1.48%; NTPC was at Rs 202.20, up 1.38%; Idea Cellular was at Rs 77.20, up 1.71% and HUL was at Rs 278.20, up 1.44%.

Top losers - Cipla was trading at Rs 305.30, down 1.74%; Sterlite Inds was at Rs 164.80, down 1.38%; ACC was at Rs 980.85, down 1.26%; GAIL was at Rs 461.05, down 1.25%; Ranbaxy Labs was at Rs 507, down 1.05%; Hindalco was at Rs 179.20, down 0.91% and Tata Power was at Rs 1,261.50, down 0.86%.
 
Today's new listing - Gujarat Pipavav was trading at Rs 53.65, up 16.63% over its issue price of Rs 46 a share.

In midcap space, BASF, Mahindra Holiday, Gujarat Gas, KEC International and Coromandel Intl gained 7-11% while MVL slipped 15%. Binani Cement, Radico Khaitan, Gammon Infra and Essar Shipping fell 1.8-2.5%.

In smallcap space, Heritage Foods, Vindhya Telelink, Shasun Chemical, Karuturi Global and Delta Corp were up 9-10% while Kothari Product, Bannariamman, Andhra Cement, Solar Ind and Ramcoind lost 2.8-4%.

Top percentage gainers - Energy Development, National Oxygen, Garnet Intl and BNK Capital shot up 20% each.

About 2004 shares advanced while 1217 shares declined on BSE. Nearly 166 shares were unchanged.