Benchmark share indices ended marginally higher ahead of June F&O expiry, amid range bound trade on Wednesday, led by private banks, metals and software shares.
The 30-share Sensex provsionally ended up 52 points at 16,959 and the 50-share Nifty ended up 19 points at 5,140.
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(Updated at 14:33 hrs)
Markets have trimmed the gains and have reached near days low with selling pressure emerging at Auto and Oil & Gas counters.
At 1430 hrs, the 30-share Sensex was up 28 points at 16,936 and the 50-share Nifty gained 9 points at 5,130. The Sensex and the Nifty have reached an intra-day low of 16,950 levels and 5,136 mark, respectively so far.
On the global front, Asian markets ended positive with Nikkei, Strait Times, Hang Seng and Taiwan gaining by almost 1% each.
European shares edged up on Wednesday but the euro was flat, with many investors out of the markets after Germany reiterated its staunch opposition to common bonds to share the euro zone's debt burden ahead of a European crisis summit.
The dollar eased from earlier highs and safe-haven German bonds were steady, while riskier assets like commodities eased, with all markets reluctant to advance in either direction before the June 28-29 summit in Brussels.
Back home, BSE IT, Metal, power, Healthcare and FMCG indices have surged by nearly 1% each. However, BSE Auto, Consumer Durable and Oil & gas indices have dipped between 0.4-1%.
From the Power space, Tata Power is the top Sensex gainer, up nearly 2%. NTPC has gained by nearly 1%. Power generation companies are trading higher on the bourses after the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) announced a 26% increase in power tariff for all domestic consumers with effect from July 1.
IT majors like Infosys, TCS and Wipro have gained between 0.2-1%.
Among Metal shares, Tata Steel, Coal India, Hindalco and Sterlite have gained between 0.3-2%.
Infra shares like L&T and BHEL are trading marginally positive. Infrastructure shares gain on optimism the government will push for increased investments in projects, especially after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is now the acting finance minister after Pranab Mukherjee stepped down on Tuesday.
From the banking space, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank have gained between 0.3-1%.
SBI is trading marginally lower. Morgan Stanley has maintained its "underperform" rating on State Bank of India, with a target price of Rs 1,425, after a meeting with the lender's management.
The investment bank says "asset quality pressures will intensify" in the fiscal year ending in March 2013, while the "flow of bad loans will be lumpy."
From the Auto space, Tata Motors is the top Sensex loser, down over 2%. M&M has slipped by nearly 1%. Auto shares witnessed profit taking on concerns that sales growth in June is likely to remain subdued.
Other notable losers include Bharti Airtel, HUL, RIL, Cipla, JSPL and ONGC.
The broader indices are trading in line with the benchmarks – BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are up nearly 0.4% each.
Among other shares, Gateway Distriparks is trading higher by 4% at Rs 131 after Morgan Stanley Asia (Singapore) PTE bought around 1% stake of logistics firm through bulk deal on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
Manappuram Finance has surged almost 9% to Rs 32.90 in noon trades extending its past three days gain, on back of over two-fold jump in trading volumes.
The market breadth remains positive with 1,415 advancing and 1,205 shares declining.