Nifty holds 7500, Sensex stable; oil & metal stocks lend support

Moneycontrol Bureau11:30 am EPF rollback? All eyes are on Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who is expected to make an important announcement regarding the proposed tax on 60 percent of Employees Provident Fund withdrawal. Jaitley may announce a relief after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention. The Finance Minister is expected to speak on EPF tax proposal in the Lok Sabha after 12 noon. Modi had reportedly asked Jaitley to reconsider the Budgetary proposal under which a part of the EPF withdrawal will be taxed, according to highly placed sources. Sources said that an official level meeting was held in PMO on the EPF tax issue on March 3, 2016, adding that the Finance Minister is likely to make an announcement the exemptions on the floor of House when he replies to Budget.Don't miss: Banks petition SC to restrain Vijay Mallya from leaving IndiaThe market is still on an uptrend with a good support from auto, healthcare, metals and Oil & gas. The Sensex is up 84.97 points or 0.3 percent at 24731.45 and the Nifty is up 23.00 points or 0.3 percent at 7508.35. About 1369 shares have advanced, 766 shares declined, and 125 shares are unchanged.

Hindalco, GAIL, Tata Motors, Adani Ports and Lupin are top gainers while SBI, HUL, ICICI Bank, Maruti and Infosys are losers in the Sensex.

Oil prices dipped in Asia today but Brent crude stayed above USD 40 a barrel, as traders took profits after solid gains over the past three weeks.

Prices have strengthened following talks of a production freeze, with a producers meeting mooted on March 20 in a bid to ease a global supply glut that has depressed the market.

Sentiment has also been boosted by strong US jobs growth data and a weaker greenback which makes dollar-priced oil cheaper, perking up demand.