Strong rupee takes Nifty past 5300; private banks gain

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Finally the Nifty touched the 5300 mark amid volatility- for the first time since November 9, 2011. Appreciation in the rupee by 37 paise to 48.79 a dollar helped the market move up further. The Sensex advanced 119 points to 17,551.26 and the Nifty rose 38 points to 5,307.55.

Sudden spike was led by private banks, technology, power and FMCG stocks. Even Reliance and SBI too recovered quite smartly from day's low. However, metals stocks remained under pressure.

Technology majors Infosys and TCS moved up a percent. Among the financials - HDFC and HDFC Bank climbed 1.2% each; ICICI Bank gained 0.4% while SBI fell 0.6%.

Pharma and power stocks too charged up; Dr Reddy's Labs rose 2% on stellar performance in Q3. Sun Pharma and Cipla went up 1-2%.

Among power stocks, NTPC, BHEL and Tata Power were up around 1.5-2%. In the auto space, Maruti, Tata Motors, M&M and Bajaj Auto advanced 0.7-1.5% while Hero Motocorp declined 0.4%.

Index heavyweights ONGC and Bharti gained over 1% while L&T fell 0.8%.

Metals stocks like Hindalco, Jindal Steel, Tata Steel and Sterlite were down 1.5-3% while Coal India rose nearly 2%.

The market breadth improved a bit; about 1631 shares advanced while 1138 shares declined on the BSE.

At 13:46 hours IST : Sensex lacklustre; metals stocks lose shine

It is an extremely lacklustre market due to lack of global cues and absense of domestic triggers. Globally, every market is waiting for some improvement over Greece debt deal and is expected to be announced by the weekend. Even the US employment situation report will be keenly watched today. European markets were flat in early trade.

Back home, Infosys, Bharti, TCS and BHEL were helping the market while Reliance, L&T and SBI weighed down. The Sensex was down just 1.85 points at 17,430 while the Nifty rose 4.65 points to 5,274.55.

Metals stocks lost their shine today, respective index falling over a percent. Tata Steel, Jindal Steel and Sterlite Industries were down 2% each; Hindalco tanked 3.5%.

Index heavyweights Reliance Industries, SBI and L&T plummeted 1-1.5%. Tata Motors, ICICI Bank and ITC slipped 0.5-1%.

However, shares of Bharti Airtel retained its top position in the buying list, rising 2.7%. Coal India rallied 2% as the company proposed Interim Dividend of Rs 5,400 crore by March.

Infosys, TCS, HDFC, BHEL and NTPC were up 0.5-1.3%. HUL, Sun Pharma, Cipla and Tata Power gained 1-1.6%.

The broader markets continued to outperform benchmarks, rising 1%.

The Indian rupee gained 25 paise to trade at 48.88 a dollar.