Sensex gains over 100 pts; oil & gas, banks, telecom up

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The Nifty retained above the 5600 level quite nicely, led by oil & gas, banks, metals (barring Sterlite) and telecom stocks. European markets too turned flat after initial downtrend. European finance ministers approved a rescue package of 130-billion-euro for Greece.

Back home, the BSE benchmark was trading at 18,422.54, up 133 points and the NSE benchmark rose 43 points to 5,607.20.

Back home, index heavyweights and oil & gas majors Reliance Industries and ONGC rallied 2.5% each. ITC and Bharti Airtel gained 1.2-1.8%.

Among banks, SBI rose 2% while ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank were up 0.5% & 0.2%, respectively.

In the capital goods space, BHEL surged nearly 5% on The Hindu Business Line reports that 19% import duty is likely on power equipment for mega projects. However, L&T fell 0.2%.

TCS too turned positive while Infosys and Wipro trimmed losses - respective stocks fell 0.36% & 1%.

However, Sterlite Industries tanked 3%; Tata Motors HDFC, HUL, Maruti and NTPC slipped 0.5-1.5%.

At 12:36 hours IST: Nifty above 5600 in noon trade; RIL, SBI, ICICI Bank lead

The market extended gains in the afternoon trade, supported majorly by Reliance Industries, SBI and ICICI Bank. L&T, ONGC, BHEL and Bharti Airtel too were quite supportive. The Nifty was trading above the 5600 level, which climbed 43 points to 5,608. Meanwhile, the Sensex gained 134 points at 18,423.55.

Laurence Balanco of CLSA feels the Nifty may face resistance at 5,700 and then 6,000, though he expects to see a pause on the Nifty as he feels the market is in an overbought zone right now.

Index heavyweights SBI, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, L&T and Bharti Airtel gained 1-2%.

BHEL and Tata Steel retained their top position in the buying list, rising 4.4% each. ONGC and Hindalco moved up over 3%.

Among other largecaps, M&M, Hero Motocorp, Tata Power, Sterlite, Jindal Steel and ITC were up 0.8-1.7%.

However, Infosys, HDFC Bank, Tata Motors, TCS, HDFC, Wipro trimmed their somewhat losses, falling 0.2-0.5%.

The broader markets gained around 1%. About 1609 shares advanced while 1082 shares declined on the BSE.

In the second line shares, Nava Bharat Ventures, Bajaj Finserv, SREI Infrastructure, Glodyne Tech and Jai Corp rallied 7-9%.

Smallcaps like Consolidated Construction, Electrosteel, Triveni Turbine, Greenply Industriers and Vakrangee Softwares were up 9-12%.