Sensex soars 200 pts, Nifty marches towards 8700; banks, auto up

Moneycontrol Bureau10:55 am Market holds gains: Equity benchmarks remained strong with the Sensex rising 204.41 points to 28107.07 and the Nifty climbing 62.65 points to 8670.10.The broader markets also traded in line with benchmarks. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 0.7-0.9 percent as about 1527 shares advanced against 604 declining shares on the exchange.10:50 am Crude update: Oil futures edged up as the US dollar erased earlier gains, but doubts that producers would be able to agree to an output freeze continued to drag on prices.

International Brent crude oil futures were trading at USD 49.38 per barrel, up 0.24 percent from their previous close.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 0.38 percent at USD 47.15 a barrel.10:40 am Interview: Tata Motors, whose domestic sales have been muted for the past few years, expects a pick-up in overall sales on back of international and defence business, says Ravi Pisharody, Executive Director - Commercial Vehicles of the company adding that the plan is to de-risk the domestic business. Currently, domestic sales contribute 85 percent to the total standalone revenue.Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Pisharoday says that 20-25 percent growth is expected in international business in the current fiscal. Two to three large defence orders will double the turnover for the company. Tata Motors is aiming to increase exports to 25 percent of overall business in next two years and grow this number to 45-50 percent in future, he says. Export volumes are expected to touch 1,00,000 units in 3 years.10:20 am CLSA on Dr Lal: CLSA has maintained buy rating on Dr Lal PathLabs with a price target of Rs 1,140 per share as it believes company's strong positioning in North India and expansion in East should drive a 25 percent earnings CAGR over FY16-19.

Given the current outbreak of dengue and chikungunya in Delhi, Q2FY17 volumes may spring a positive surprise, it feels.

Dr Lal derives 70 percent of its revenue from North India. The key to Dr Lal's business model is its hub and spoke model approach along with a strong over 1,500 patient service centre (PSC) network largely operated by franchisees. Along with this, the company has some 5,000 pick-up points. Walk-in patients (own labs + franchisee) account for 60 percent of revenue.

Walk-in patients (own labs + franchisee) account for 60 percent of revenue which has enabled Dr Lal to create a customer-centric brand, says the brokerage house.Also read - Investment strategies: 10 handpicked stocks for your portfolio10:00 am Market CheckThe market continued its uptrend that started in late trade yesterday. Broadbased buying helped the Sensex cross 28000 level and the Nifty move towards 8700-mark.

"Sideways range has formed support at 8,547-8,565 and resistance at 8,747.8,760," Laurence Balanco of CLSA says, adding a break below the lower boundary of the cited range would open the door for a move down to the 50-day moving average and lower boundary of the cited uptrend channel, currently at 8,238-8,460.

"Once this corrective period runs its course, the Nifty should be set-up for gains towards next chart resistance at 8,667-8,723 provided by the July/October 2015 highs and then the all-time highs at 9,191," he says.

The BSE Sensex gained 211.15 points at 28113.81 and the NSE Nifty rose 64.60 points to 8672.05. About 1424 shares advanced against 471 declining shares on the BSE.HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Axis Bank, Sun Pharma, SBI, Hero Motocorp and Bajaj Auto gained 1-2.5 percent while Bharti Airtel fell further.