Nifty hits 7400, Sensex strong; ITC, Bharti Airtel down

Moneycontrol Bureau11:30 am Market outlook: While the last few days have been challenging, there was nothing local in this leg of correction, says Krishna Kumar Karwa of Emkay Global Financial Services. It was completely driven by global factors. However, he advises investors to be cautiously optimistic and says while India will benefit from lower oil prices, there will be some collateral damage in the short-term due to a fall in commodity prices. He also advises investors to buy high quality companies with strong balancesheets. He is bullish on sectors such as IT, pharma, among others.Don't miss: See FY17 earnings @12-14%; like utilities, pvt banks: Jefferies 

The market is gaining gradually. The Sensex is up 392.57 points or 1.6 percent at 24354.78 and the Nifty is up 126.05 points or 1.7 percent at 7402.85. About 1811 shares have advanced, 370 shares declined, and 100 shares are unchanged.

GAIL, Hindalco, SBI, Axis Bank and NTPC are top gainers while Bharti Airtel, Adani Ports, ITC,  Wipro and HUL are losers.

The sell-off in January 2016, prompted by a declining oil and a slowing China story, was overdone and this market volatility will continue in the near-term, says Ian Hui, Global Market Strategist, JPMorgan Asset Management Company.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Hui says the Chinese situation wasn't as bad as the market made it out to be. However, the dovish tone set by European Central Bank (ECB) in its move to provide more stimulus by March has proved to be positive for the equity markets, particularly Europe.

He prefers developed markets — Europe, Japan and US — over emerging markets.