Markets have fallen from the high levels owing to the weak opening of the European markets. The Sensex which touched the high of 17,754 was currently at 17,663, higher by 112 points and the S&P CNX Nifty was at 5310, higher by 31 points.
The European markets have opened on a weak note. The FTSE opened at 5742, down 30 points, CAC opened lower by 29 points at 3842 and the DAX shed 11 points to open at 2547.
Back to the Indian markets oil marketing companies (OMC) have gained in the trades today on reports that the government will raise diesel, cooking gas and kerosene prices next month after a gap of one year.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Updated at 12.45 PM)
Markets continued the upmove in the noon deals on back of buying in the index heavyweights like Reliance Industries and ITC. The Sensex was up 154 points to 17,705 and the S&P CNX Nifty was at 5311, higher by 31 points.
According to Ashish Chaturmotha, Vice President, Indiainfoline, "Nifty is facing a stiff resistance at 5320 levels, if it sustains well above this level on closing basis with volume support we may see some upside towards 5360 led by short covering."
On the macro economic front the food inflation for the week ended June 11 rose to 9.13%. Primary articles reported inflation of 12.62% during the period under review, down from 12.86% in the previous week.
Back to markets, Reliance Industries has gained 2.4% to Rs 866 in trades today after the company made another natural gas discovery in the very first well drilled on its deep-sea D-9 block of the hydrocarbon rich Krishna Godavari (KG) basin. ITC and ONGC have also advanced 2.3% in trades so far. Reliance Communication, Hindustan Unilever, J P associates, Tata Motors, Wipro, Infosys and DLF were also trading higher by 0.3-2% each. Meanwhile Maruti Suzuki, Cipla, BHEL, Bajaj Auto and Hindalco were among the notable losers.
Most of the sugar stocks were also trading higher as the food minister said ministers panel may consider ending stock limits on sugar and panel may also consider increasing sugar exports.
Riga Sugars, Oudh Sugar Mills, Dwarikesh Sugar, Simbhaoli Sugars, Rana Sugars, Uttam Sugar Mills and Sakthi Sugars were among the top gainers, up 1.7-4.6% each.
On the sectoral front all the indices were trading higher barring the BSE healthcare index. Continuous buying in energy counters like ONGC and Reliance Industries has helped the Oil & Gas index in holding the top spot on the sectoral charts. The index has gained 2.1% or 185 points at 8955. FMCG index was also up 1.6% or 60 pints at 3795. IT, PSU, Bankex, Capital Goods and Auto indices were also among the gainers, up 0.4-1% each. On the other hand Healthcare and consumer durable stocks were witnessing a mild selling pressures. Both the indices were marginally lower.
HPCL, IOCL, BPCL, Oil India and Cairn India were the other gainers from the oil & gas space. Among the FMCG stocks Tata Global Beverages, Nestle, Marico and Dabur were among the top gainers.
The broader markets continue to underperform the benchmark indices. The mid-cap index was higher by a point at 6531 while the small-cap index was down 4 points at 7803.
The overall breadth remained negative but has recovered drastically as 1340 stocks were declining while 1146 stocks were advancing.