Sensex hovers around 17200; oil & gas, metals, pharma up

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At 13:09 hours IST, the benchmark Sensex strengthened a bit. Reliance Industries was the leading counter, up 2.5%, along with entire oil & gas space. Metal, pharma, technology (barring Wipro), auto, select power and capital goods stocks were the other gainers, which were supporting the markets to stay on the higher side.

However, selling in banking & financial space along with Bharti, ITC, Wipro, DLF, Jaiprakash Associates, ACC and Ambuja Cements capped the gains to major extent.

The Sensex was trading at 17213, up 48 points and the Nifty was at 5147, up 18 points. The broader indices were outperforming the benchmark indices; the BSE Midcap Index was up 0.6% and the Smallcap was up 1%.

In the pharma space, Sun Pharma, Cipla and Ranbaxy Labs gained 0.5-1.7%.

Jindal Steel from the metal pack gained 1.8%. SAIL, Tata Steel and Hindalco went up 0.6-1%.

Oil & gas stocks like ONGC, Cairn India, BPCL and GAIL were up 1-2%.

However, HDFC Bank from the banking & financial segment lost 1.9%. SBI, ICICI Bank and HDFC slipped 0.4-0.6%.

The markets breadth was also positive; about 850 shares advanced while 410 shares declined on the NSE.

Top gainers on the BSE Midcap - REI Six Ten was up 15.45%. Jai Corp, Apollo Tyres, Triveni Engg and 3M India gained 5.8-10.7%.

Top losers on the BSE Midcap - Bannariamman, ING Vysya Bank, HMT, Essar Shipping and Shriram City fell 2-3%.

Top gainers on the BSE Smallcap - Ruchinfra, Graviss Hospital, Graphite India, Panyam Cements and Carol Info went up 8-10%.

Top losers on the BSE Smallcap - Richa Industries, Thinksoft, Gee Kay Finance, Gemini Comm and Maharashtra Elektrosmelt slipped 5-6%.