Gaddafi accepts peace plan to end crisis; markets recover

At 11.36 hrs IST, Gaddafi accepted peace plan to end crisis in North African country. Both Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and the president of the Arab League agreed to a peace plan from Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez to end the crisis in the North African country, reports Reuters quoting a news network said on Thursday. Indian markets have reacted positively to the news.

The Sensex was up 32.30 points or 0.18% at 18478.80, and the Nifty was up 29.00 points or 0.53% at 5551.30. About 1249 shares advanced, 1186 shares declined, and 906 shares remain unchanged. Asian markets too were trading higher post Gaddafi announcement. They were trading up in 0.20-2% range. Top gainers on the Sensex: HDFC, Tata Power, HDFC Bank, DLF and Jaiprakash Associates were up 2-3%. Top losers on the Sensex: ICICI Bank, Infosys, Wipro, Hindalco and Sterlite Industries were down 1-1.5%. Hindustan Lever was trading at Rs 290.90 up 1.45% from its previous close of Rs 286.75. Index heavyweight Reliance was trading at Rs 981.90 down 0.71% from its previous close of Rs 988.95. Tech major Infosys was trading at Rs 3,043.00 down 1.46% from its previous close of Rs 3,088.00. Cigarette major ITC was trading at Rs 175.00 up 0.86% from its previous close of Rs 173.50. Refinery major HPCL was trading at Rs 331.80 up 0.88% from its previous close of Rs 328.90. Crude Impact Shares of oil marketing companies like BPCL, HPCL and IOC rebounded with 1-2% gains after recovery in oil prices. London Brent crude oil was trading at USD 115.82 a barrel, down 0.5 a barrel. NYMEX crude was trading at USD 100.89 a barrel, down 1.3%. Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines were up 1-2%. Punj Lloyd gained 5% as the company's exposure to Libya stands at Rs 98 bn, according to Emkay report. In the midcap space, Bajaj Finserv, DeccanChronicle, Essar Shipping, Sobha Developer and Godrej Industries were up 5-20%. Hotel Leela, Hathway Cable, Kansai Nerolac, Stride Arcolab and Info Edge were down 3-4%. In the smallcap space, Vindhya Telelink, KRBL, Bartronics, Gati and Sequent Scienti were up 8-20%. Parenteral Drug, Newtime Infra, Ontrack Systems, Shree Nath Comm and Prabhav Indust were down 4-5%.