Sensex rebounds, Nifty above 5200 on 1st day of Apr series

The NSE Nifty started off trade above the 5200 level on first day of April Series, helped by banks, capital goods, technology and metals stocks. The BSE Sensex too gained more than 150 points in early trade after falling in previous two sessions, even after mixed Asian markets.

The BSE benchmark was up 153 points to 17,211.64 led by 28 components. Meanwhile, the NSE benchmark rose 48 points to 5,226.40.

The Indian rupee appreciated by 23 paise to 51.17 a dollar reacting to Reserve Bank of India's open market operations (OMO) today. The RBI has announced it will buy Rs 10,000 crore of 4 GILTS via OMOs.

Frontliners, Tata Power, GAIL, Sun Pharma, DLF, JP Associates, IDFC, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, PNB, Reliance Infrastructure, BHEL, State Bank of India and TCS were leading gainers.

However, ACC, Maruti, Wipro and Ranbaxy Labs were down 0.5-1% in early trade.

The CNX Midcap rose 47 points to 7,565. About two shares advanced for every share falling on the National Stock Exchange.

In the second line shares, Shree Renuka Sugars, Hexaware, IDBI Bank, HCC, Unitech, VIP Industries, Essar Oil, India Cement, Ashok Leyland and GVK Power shot up 1.5-2.5%. IVRCL rose nearly a percent.

Nava Bharat Ventures surged 4% post block deal.

However, GMR Infra and Idea Cellular fell nearly 1%.