Nifty hovers around 7550, Sensex & Midcap strong; ICICI, GAIL up

Moneycontrol Bureau10:40 am Market off day's high: Equity benchmarks erased some gains with the Sensex rising 119.96 points to 24802.44 and the Nifty climbing 47.55 points to 7546.30.About two shares advanced for every share declining on the BSE.10:20 am Earnings improvement?: The December quarter earnings did not show any signs of recovery, says Tushar Pradhan, Chief Investment Officer, HSBC Global Asset Management. Pradhan expects earnings growth to be subdued for the next couple of quarters and sees a possible recovery only from the second half of FY17.Also read - Earnings, RBI policy key now; fundamental issues persist: Edelweiss10:00 am Market Check

The market climbed nearly 1 percent after dovish FOMC statement. Banking & financials, oil, infra, technology and auto stocks led rally while pharma stocks underperformed.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 204.71 points to 24887.19 and the 50-share NSE Nifty advanced 70.20 points to 7568.95. More than three shares advanced for every share declining on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

GAIL gained nearly 3 percent after Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) revised company's KG basin pipeline tariff to Rs 45.32/mbtu that will be effective between April 2016-February 11, 2017.ICICI Bank was biggest contributor to Sensex's gain, up 2.8 percent followed by HDFC, Reliance Industries, L&T, Tata Motors, SBI, Axis Bank, ONGC, Maruti, HUL and Bharti with over a 1 percent upside.However, Lupin, Sun Pharma and Dr Reddy's Labs were marginally lower.