Sensex, Nifty continue to rally; SBI, ONGC, ICICI Bank drag

Moneycontrol Bureau10:59 am Market Update: The Sensex rose 126.36 points to 25753.11 and the Nifty advanced 37.90 points to 7888.35, led by Infosys and ITC.About 1227 shares advanced against 865 declining shares on Bombay Stock Exchange.10:55 am Buzzing: Shares of Gravita India rose 4.3 percent intraday as it has started commercial production of aluminium alloys.The company has made an entry into aluminium recycling at its new recycling plant at Phagi, Jaipur with an initial capacity of 6000 MTPA of aluminium alloy production.The company will be manufacturing aluminium automobile alloy by recycling aluminium scrap."This entry into aluminium recycling will not only help in reducing India's carbon foot prints but will also enhance the recycling DNA of the group," company said in release.10:40 am Oil Update: Crude oil futures fell sharply by Rs 129 to Rs 2,569 per barrel today as speculators cut down their bets amid weak cues from the Asian markets after Doha output talks failed.

Analysts said trading sentiment dampened after the world's top producers failed to reach an agreement on capping output aimed at easing a global supply glut during a meeting in Doha. Hopes the world's main producer cartel, OPEC and other major exporters like Russia would agree to freeze output has helped scrape oil prices off the 13-year lows they touched in February. But, crude tanked after top producer Saudi Arabia walked away from the talks, which many hoped would ease a huge surplus in world supplies, because of a boycott by its rival Iran.

Oil tumbled in early Asian trade after the collapse of Sunday's talk, with prices dropping as much as seven per cent in opening deals.10:20 am Interview: Murali M Natrajan, MD & CEO, DCB Bank, is very hopeful that the growth momentum of the bank will continue to be supported by stable asset quality and branch expansions, said Natrajan in an interview to CNBC-TV18.The bank, in April, opened its 200th branch.The bank's profit in January-March quarter increased 10.4 percent year-on-year to Rs 69.5 crore, driven by net interest income and other income but higher provisions limited growth.Natrajan is confident of the bank further doubling its loan book in the next 3-4 years. The bank has been consistently growing at 20 percent-plus in its loan portfolio.The bank is also ready to be part of the Unified Payment Bank (UPI), said Natrajan.Also read - TCS Q4 net seen up 2%, dollar revenue may grow 1.4%: Poll10:00 am Market Check

After an early morning gush, the market has cooled off a bit. The Sensex is up 80.73 points or 0.3 percent at 25707.48, and the Nifty up 19.50 points or 0.2 percent at 7869.95. About 978 shares have advanced, 849 shares declined, and 96 shares are unchanged.

Infosys, Lupin, TCS, SBI, ICICI Bank and GAIL are major losers while Infosys, Lupin, M&M, Bharti Airtel and Cipla are gainers in the Sensex.

Meanwhile, oil prices may be tanking in the wake of a failed attempt to freeze production, but Citi is betting on a recovery in prices. Citi is forecasting declining supply from some producers, such as Venezuela and Nigeria, while inventories may finally see some drawdowns. For the third quarter, Citi now forecasts Brent at USD 46 a barrel and WTI at USD 45, up from its previous forecasts of USD 41 and USD 40, respectively. For the fourth quarter, it held its forecasts steady at USD 52 a barrel for Brent and USD 50 for WTI.