Sensex holds on to early gains; oil & gas, banks support

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BSE benchmark Sensex held on to its 100 point opening trade gain though it lost about 60 points from day's high of 17,035.49. The broader indices also were lacklustre in trade.

Oil & gas, banking, technology, capital goods, cement and select auto companies' shares were supporting the market. However, the selling continued in GAIL, DLF, Maruti, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Reliance Capital, which fell 1-2%. Meanwhile, HDFC, Ranbaxy Labs and Reliance Infrastructure slipped over 0.5%.

The 50-share NSE Nifty gained 39 points at 5,112 and the 30-share BSE Sensex moved up 135 points to 16,975.

Heavyweights Reliance Industries, SBI, TCS, Bharti Airtel, BHEL, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank gained 1-2%. ONGC and ITC moved up nearly 1%.

Smallcaps like Geodesic, Gokaldas Export, Kirloskar Brothers, Kennametal and Hatsun Agro shot up 7-15% while Allied Digital, Lloyds Metals, ICRA and Halonix lost 5-10%. Clarus Finance was locked at 20% upper circuit.

At 10:10 hours IST : Nifty holds 5100; Coal India, TCS, SBI, Infy, BHEL lead

The market continued its uptrend though despite profit bookings at higher levels. Major sectors like financial, capital goods, oil & gas and metal were supporting the market. The 30-share BSE Sensex continued to trade in the neighbourhood of the 17,000 mark. It was trading at 16,972, up 133 points and the 50-share NSE Nifty was standing up 40 points at 5,112.

Among largecaps, Coal India, SBI, Tata Motors, Infosys, BHEL, Ambuja Cements, Sterlite Industries and TCS were top gainers; these stocks gained 2-2.5%. However, top losers were DLF, Reliance Capital, Maruti Suzuki, Ranbaxy Labs and Sesa Goa, which fell 1-1.5%. M&M, Jaiprakash Associates and HUL were marginally in the red.

SBI, Inventure Growth, Jubilant Foodworks, Tata Steel, Delta Corp, Bharti Airtel, Infosys and ICICI Bank were most active shares on exchanges.

In the midcap space, Gujarat Flourochem, Allcargo Global, Page Industries, Jubilant Foodworks and Dish TV India were up 4-9%. However, NCC, Sunteck Realty, IVRCL, Anant Raj Inds and Puravankara Projects fell 6-8%.

About 783 shares advanced as against 484 shares declined on National Stock Exchange.

At 9:19 hours IST : Sensex rebounds, gains over 100 pts; tech, metals up

Equity benchmarks started the trade with 1% gap-up after a long weekend, supported by positive global cues. However, there was a bit of profit booking at higher levels as it seemed investors and traders were using the strategy of sell on rallies. The Sensex got back above the 17000 mark in the opening trade but could not hold the same.

Technology, private banks and metal companies' shares rebounded on the back of stability in the global markets. However, midcap infrastructure stocks were witnessing selling pressure.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was trading at 16,973, up 134 points and the 50-share NSE Nifty went up 38 points to 5,111.

Largecaps like ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Infosys, TCS, Sterlite, Hindalco, Jaiprakash Associates, Tata Motors, DLF, Wipro, Coal India, IDFC, HDFC, ITC and L&T were leading the market higher.

Reliance Capital (post results), BPCL, PNB and Kotak Mahindra Bank were seeing selling pressure.

The CNX Midcap rose 37 points to 7,618. About 600 shares advanced as against 150 shares declined on National Stock Exchange.

Jubilant Foodworks and Pipavav Shipyard rallied 3% each.

However, Union Bank and Bank of India lost 1% each.

IVRCL was down 1%, Lanco Infra and NCC fell 2.5-3%