Nifty holds 5500; oil & gas, metals, infra lead

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Indian equity benchmarks gained further in morning trade - the Sensex added about 200 points and the Nifty was trading above the 5500 level - supported by buying in across all sectors. Metal, auto, realty, banking, capital goods and oil & gas companies' shares were leading the markets in today's upswing.

"Investors are watching oil prices very closely but are still buoyant on India. Market valuations here have compressed this year," Abhay Laijawala of Deutsche Equities India said.

Seeing a strong directional shift in market in the second half of calendar year 2012, he said, inflation, commodity prices and reforms will determine its movement. "We are cautiously optimistic on Indian markets," he added.

Cooling off crude and buzz of likely patch up between UPA allies DMK & congress could be reasons behind today's rebound. WTI crude oil slipped to USD 104.5 a barrel on the NYMEX and London brent crude was trading at USD 114.5 a barrel from yesterday's high of USD 118 a barrel.

There was a buzz that congress may see better solutions to resolve the issue of seat-sharing for Tamil Nadu election. Tamil Nadu Deputy CM said congress asked for 1 more day to decide on fate of alliance and DMK leaders would not submit resignations today. Earlier in the previous weekend, congress put in demand for 63 seats in forthcoming election in Tamil Nadu while DMK opposed for the same.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was trading at 18,423, up 201 points and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 51.5 points at 5,514.

Among frontliners, Jaiprakash Associates, Reliance Infrastructure, Bajaj Auto, ONGC, Bharti Airtel and Sesa Goa were the top gainers with 1.5-3.5% gain.

However, Cairn India was down 1.78%, Hero Honda down 1.03%, Reliance Power down 0.9% and GAIL down 0.63%.

United Spirits, Tata Coffee, REC, SBI, Tata Steel, Tata Motors and Jaiprakash Associates were the most active shares on exchanges.

In midcap space, Jindal PolyFilm, Gujarat Flourochem, Hindustan National Glass, SpiceJet and Sanwaria Agro rallied 4-6% while Essar Shipping, Den Networks, Sunteck Realty, Alfa Laval and Indian Metals lost 1.5-3%.

In smallcap space, Jindal Worldwide, Tata Coffee, Symphony, Jindal Cotex and Gokul Refoils gained 7-13% whereas R M Mohite, Bheema Cements, Asian Hotel (E), Ashoka Buildcon and Insecticides India fell 3-5%.

About 1507 shares advanced as against 572 shares declined on the Bombay Stock Exchange.