At 12:43 hours IST, the Nifty strengthened, after seeing volatility since early trade and touched the 4,850 level. Buying in banking & financial, metal, power, auto, pharma and oil & gas stocks was supporting the markets to stay on the higher side.

However, selling continued in Bharti, Reliance Communications, BHEL, HUL, Unitech, Suzlon, Ambuja Cements and Idea Cellular, which capped the gains to some extent.

The Nifty gained 54 points at 4,850 and the Sensex rose 177 points to 16,335. The broader indices were up 1.3-1.7%, as about 943 shares advanced while 294 shares declined on the NSE. 

Banking stocks like Axis Bank rose 4%. PNB, HDFC Bank, SBI, ICICI Bank, Bank of Baroda and Kotak Mahindra were up 1.5-2.4%.

Reliance Industries went up 2.83% in the oil & gas space, GAIL, BPCL, Cairn India and ONGC moved up 0.4-0.8%.

In the metal pack, JSW Steel, Jindal Steel, Sesa Goa, Tata Steel, SAIL, Hindustan Zinc, Hindalco and Sterlite Industries gained 1-3%. NALCO was up 0.61%.

Tata Power, GMR Infra, Lanco Infratech, ABB and Reliance Infrastructure went up 1-2.6% in the power space. Siemens, Torrent Power, NTPC, Neyveli Lignite, Power Grid Corp and NHPC were up 0.3-0.8%.

In the healthcare segment, Biocon, Divis Labs, Glenmark, Piramal Health, Lupin, Sun Pharma, Dr Reddys Labs, Dishman Pharma, Cipla and Ranbaxy Labs gained 0.5-2.8%.

Top percentage gainers - Jai Corp locked at 20% upper circuit. Scooters India and Trent (W) were up nearly 20%. Todays Writing, Rich Capital, Crew, Orbit Corporation and Gulf Oil Corp gained 13-16%.

Top percentage losers - Krishna Filamen, Best Eastern, Transcorp Int, DFM Foods, Surana Corp, aurionPro Solutions, Mangalam Timber, Khaitan Electric, Wanbury and Shah Alloys fell 5-10%.

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