Sensex maintains uptrend; banks, auto gain

Indian equity benchmarks were still trading higher at 10:24 hours, though they shaved off some early trade gains due to sell-off in heavyweights like ONGC, L&T, BHEL and Bharti. SAIL, Tata Motors and Ranbaxy Labs too were down.

Technology, financial, select auto, realty and Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group companies' shares were consistently supporting the markets. Reliance Industries too was the gainer.

The 50-share NSE Nifty was trading at 5,575, up 39 points, after hitting the 5600-mark for first time since January 28 and the 30-share BSE Sensex gained 144 points at 18,634. The broader indices too were up over 0.5%.

However, Parul Saini of RBS maintained cautious view on Indian markets and said would be buyers of the markets at 10% below current levels. "Concerns regarding inflation and political situation are receding on the margin. However, high crude oil prices are a key risk to India's current account and fiscal deficit, as well as investor sentiment."

Breadth was positive - about 840 shares advanced as against 378 shares declined on National Stock Exchange.

SBI, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, HDFC, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank from financial space rallied 1-2%. Bajaj Auto, M&M, Hero Honda and Maruti from auto pack gained 1-2%. DLF too rose 1%.

Reliance Power, Reliance Communications, Reliance Infrastructure and Reliance Capital from ADAG went up 0.5-2%.

Bajaj Finserv, Hero Honda, SBI, Tata Motors, Mphasis, Reliance Industries, Infosys and ICICI Bank were the most active shares on exchanges.

In midcap space, Essar Shipping, Bajaj Finserv, Kirloskar Oil, Mahindra Life and Anant Raj Inds rallied 4-9% while Shree Global, Sunteck Realty, Gammon India, Peninsula Land and ING Vysya Bank fell 2-5%.

In smallcap space, Vindhya Telelink surged 18%. Nectar Life, Graviss Hosp, PI Industries and Lloyds Metals gained 7.5-12% whereas Hindustan Media, Shree Nath Comm, Ester Inds, Splash Media and JB Chemicals lost 3-9%.

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Strong global cues lift Nifty to the 5600 mark

The benchmark Nifty continued the uptrend for fifth consecutive session today following strong global cues, supported by good US economic data and stable oil prices. The Nifty has touched the 5600-mark for the first time since January 28, 2011.

Among frontliners, M&M, Bajaj Auto, PNB, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Reliance Infrastructure, Reliance Communications, Reliance Industries, Jaiprakash Associates, Infosys, SBI, Tata Steel, Sterlite and Sesa Goa were witnessing buying interest.

However, Bharti Airtel, HUL, ITC and ONGC were only losers in early trade.

At 9:17 hours IST, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading at 18,678, up 189 points and the 50-share NSE Nifty rallied 53 points to 5,589.

About 606 shares advanced as against 155 shares declined on National Stock Exchange. The CNX Midcap went up 70 points to 7,705.

Midcap & Smallcap space:

Continued the rally in today's trade as well - Essar Shipping surged 6%. Bajaj Finserv and Camlin were up 5%.

Lanco Infratech went up 2%. DCB, South Indian Bank and OBC gained over 2%.

Mphasis was up 1.6% as company disclosed pricing and segmental pricing after analyst badger the stock for lack of disclosures.

Delta Corp, 3i Infotech, Aurobindo Pharma and REC were up 2-4%.

However, IRB Infra was down 2%.

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Global cues:

Asian markets were trading higher. Nikkei, Hang Seng, Straits Times, Kospi and Taiwan gained 1-1.4%. Shanghai rose 0.3%.

The US markets witnessed best single-session performance in three months post strong economic data and decline in crude prices on Thursday.

Oil prices pulled back, but remain above USD 100 a barrel on reports that Libya's Gaddafi accepted a peace plan put forth by Venezuela's Chavez.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 191.4 points or 1.6% at 12,258. The Nasdaq Composite was up 51 points or 1.84% at 2,799 and the S&P 500 Index gained 22.5 points or 1.7% at 1,330.

Commodities

Crude oil ended down 0.3% at USD 101.9 a barrel; slipped below USD 100 during the day

March natural gas contract was down 1.1% at USD 3.77 per MMBtu

April gold contract fell 1.4% at USD 1417.5/ounce

May silver contract declined 1.4% at USD 34.33/ounce

F&O cues:

Total Futures Open Int up Rs 64 crore, Total Options Open Int up Rs 3589 crore

Total stock futures Open Int add 53 lakh shares in Open Int

Futures Open Int shed 7900 shares, prem falls to 8 pts from 22 pts

Nifty Open Int PCR falls to 1.32 from 1.35

Total Put add 23.5 lakh shares, call add 33.5 lakh shares

Highest Open Int outstanding at 5400 put (from 5300 Put), 5300 put, 5600 call (from 5700 call)

Lot of ratio spreads worked in the market like buying 5500 call and selling multiple 5900-6000 call

Nifty 5600 call adds 13.7 lakh (29%) shares in Open Int

Nifty 5900 call adds 13.2 lakh (40%) shares in Open Int

Nifty 4900 put adds 11.4 lakh (54) shares in Open Int

Nifty 5500 call adds 6.4 lakh (14%) shares in Open Int

Nifty 6000 Call adds 5.6 lakh (23%) shares in Open Int

Nifty 5400 put adds 5.4 lakh (7%) shares in Open Int

Nifty 5300 Call shed 5.3 lakh (20%) shares in Open Int

Nifty 5300 Put shed 3.4 lakh (4%) shares in Open Int

Nifty 5400 call shed 3.4 lakh (4%) shares in Open Int