Nifty erases gains; Reliance, HUL, Infy, Bharti down

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The market gave up some gains, weighed down by Reliance Industries and HUL. However, banks, capital goods and select metal stocks were supporting the market, though these stocks came off day's high. European markets extended fall; France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE were down 0.6-1%.

Back home, the Sensex was up 110 points at 17,715 and the Nifty rose 39 points to 5,364.55.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries dropped 0.8%. HUL plunged 3.5% after positive reaction initially to its Q3 numbers. Tata Power plunged over 5%.

However, shares of SBI and BHEL rallied 2.8% each; TCS and L&T L&T were up 2-2.5%. ICICI Bank rose 1.4%.

Jindal Steel, Bajaj Auto, Sterlite and DLF among other largecaps climbed 2-3%.

The broader markets too came off their day's high - the BSE Midcap Index was up 0.8% and Smallcap up 1.2%.

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The Nifty continued to trade higher, holding the 5350 level despite fall in European markets on opening. Major largecaps like ICICI Bank, SBI, L&T, TCS and BHEL were supporting the market; however, fall in Reliance Industries limited the upside. The BSE benchmark rose 126 points to 17,730.79 and the NSE benchmark gained 43.5 points at 5,369.35.

Nirmal Jain, chairman of IIFL believes that worst is over for equity market and sees significant improvement in investor sentiments. Jain expects the markets to consolidate with a positive bias till the Budget. "If the FII money continues to pour in we'll see a positive trend in the market," he said.

Shares of SBI, ICICI Bank, L&T and BHEL rallied 2-2.9%. Sterlite, Jindal Steel, Hindalco and DLF climbed 2-3%.

Among others, TCS, Tata Steel, Bajaj Auto, Maruti and Cipla were up 1-1.7%.

However, Tata Power retained its top position in selling list, falling 4%. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries dropped 0.8%.

Even ONGC, Bharti Airtel, Wipro and Infosys were flat with a negative bias.

The broader markets consistently outperformed the benchmarks - BSE Midcap Index was up 1.7% and Smallcap up 2%.

European markets like France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE fell 0.3-0.8% in the opening trade, may be led by profit booking.