Nifty gains as crude cools off; oil & gas up

The benchmark Nifty started the first day of the week on a flat note with a positive bias, after factoring in the news of the earthquake in Japan. The cooling off crude oil prices was another reason that helped the markets - Brent crude slipped to USD 111.9 a barrel, down by USD 1.94/bbl.

Andrew Holland of Ambit Capital said investor sentiment hit due to tragic events in Japan. Oil price is a key issue for India, he said.

Among frontliners, Reliance Communications, Reliance Infrastructure, Reliance Capital, Reliance Industries, ONGC, Suzlon, NTPC, SBI, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, ACC and Tata Steel were leading the markets higher.

However, TCS, Infosys, Tata Motors, Maruti, Cipla, Sun Pharma, L&T, Sesa Goa, Kotak Mahindra Bank and HDFC Bank were witnessing selling pressure in early trade.

At 9:17 hours IST, the 30-share BSE Sensex gained 58 points at 18,232 and the 50-share NSE Nifty went up 22 points to 5,467, 

The CNX Midcap gained 19 points at 7,624. About 348 shares advanced as against 344 shares declined on National Stock Exchange.

Midcap & Smallcap space:

Celebrity Fashions rallied another 8%.

Tata Coffee was up 4.5%. Kingfisher and Jet Airways went up 3% each.

Petronet LNG was up 1.5% and HOV Services surged 6%.

Hotel Leela Venture jumped 2%

JHS rallied 7% and Assam Company was up 1.5%.

However, Wockhardt tanked 10% as Bombay HC admitted winding up petition against the company. Wockhardt is likely to challenge Bombay HC decision.

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Global cues:

Global markets were jittery amid earthquake in Japan on Friday, triggered numerous tsunami warnings.

Asian markets were trading lower. Nikkei tanked 4.5% after an earthquake in Japan.

Police officials in Japan were in fear that more than 10,000 people may have been killed. Japanese government added USD 86 billion to stabilize markets after quake. Country declared emergency at another nuclear plant; more than 170,000 people evacuated the quake.

Straits Times and Kospi fell 0.5%. Taiwan lost over 1%. Hang Seng went down 0.4%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 60 points or 0.5% at 12,044, after seeing recovery of 110 points from day's low of 11,936. It was down 1% for week while gained 4% YTD ((US markets had fallen nearly 2% a day ago)).

The Nasdaq went up 14.6 points or 0.54% at 2,716, after recovery of 26 points from day's low of 2,690. It was down 2.5% for week while gained 2.3% YTD.

Commodities

Crude Oil went down 1.5% at USD 101.13/barrel; slipped below USD 100 during the day

Gold was up 0.7% at USD 1421, bounced back from USD 1404 level during the day

Silver went up 2.8% at USD 36.01, bounced back from USD 34.07 level during the day

Natural gas was up 1.3% at USD 3.89 per MMBtu

F&O Cues:

Total Futures Open Int down Rs 85 crore, Total Options Open Int up Rs 2236 crore

Total stock futures Open Int add 24 lakh shares in Open Int

Nifty futures Open Int shed 1 lakh shares in Open Int, premium up at 15 pts from 10 pts prem

Nifty Open Int PCR up 1.28 versus 1.29

Total Put add 19.5 lakh shares, call add 18.8 lakh shares

Highest Open Int outstanding at 5400 put, 5300 put, 5200 put, 5700 call

Nifty 5200 put add 8.7 lakh (15%) shares in Open Int

Nifty 5700 call add 6 lakh (10%) shares in Open Int

Nifty 5500 call add 4.7 lakh (8%) shares in Open Int

Nifty 5100 put add 4.22 lakh (8%) shares in Open Int

Nifty 5300 put add 3.8 lakh (5%) shares in Open Int

Nifty 5800 call adds 3.4 lakh (7%) shares in Open Int

Nifty 5800 call add 3.4 lakh (7%) shares in Open Int

Nifty 5500 put shed 4.5 lakh (9%) shares in Open Int

Nifty 5600 put shed 1.9 lakh (10%) shares in Open Int

India VIX up 2.5% at 24.13