 "Markets trading flat; Nifty holds 7,300")
Markets recovered from their day's lows after short covering was seen in index heavyweights at lower levels.
At 3PM, the 30-share Sensex was up 56 points at 24,755 and the Nifty was flat at 7,365.
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(Updated at 2:35PM)
At 2:35PM, the 30-share Sensex was down 101 points at 24,592 and the 50-share Nifty was down 53 points at 7,313.
The rupee weakened against the US dollar and was trading at 58.64 to its Friday's close of Rs 58.52. In early trades, the rupee had hit a high of Rs 58,44 tracking sharp gains in equities ahead of prime minister-elect Narendra Modi's swearing in ceremony later today.
Asian stocks firmed up tracking gains in US markets and easing of tensions in Ukraine after the country's chocolate tycoon Petro Poroshenko emerged victorious in the presidential election held on Sunday. He has been given an opportunity to resolve the long lasting conflict between the west and Russia and ensure political stability. China's Shanghai Composite was up by 0.3%. Nikkei 225 Average gained for the third straight day to end up 1% amid a weaker yen. Straits Times gained 0.2% while Hang Seng dipped 0.1%.
European shares were also trading firm tracking gains in Asia and developments in Ukraine. The CAC-40 and DAX were up 0.7-1.4% each.
BSE Capital Goods index was the top gainer among the sectoral indices up 4.3% followed by Auto, Power, Metal, Oil and Gas, IT and Bankex were up 0.6-2.9% each.
Infrastructure companies especially those involved in road-construction were among the top gainers after the National Highways Authority of India, responsible for development, maintenance and management of NHs, recently allowed nine of the stressed 23 road projects to reschedule their premium payments, a development that can revive stalled road works and attract investments.
L&T was up nearly 3% emerging as the top Sensex gainer. Among other shares in the road-construction space, IRB Infra was up 6% at Rs 202 and Sadbhav Engineering was up 3% at RS 184.
ONGC gained 1% after its overseas arm ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) signed a deal with Russia's largest oil and gas producer Rosneft to jointly explore hydrocarbons in the offshore Arctic.
Select auto stocks such as M&M and Tata Motors were also among the top Sensex gainers up 2-7% each.
ITC staged a recovery today and was up 1.3%, after slipping over 4% on Friday, post its fourth quarter numbers. The FMCG major reported a jump of 18 per cent in its final quarter net profit at Rs 2,278 crore against Rs 1,928 crore a year ago.
Despite an appreciating rupee, the IT exporters were gainers in today's session on the back of upbeat US home sales data signalling signs of an uptick in the world's largest economy. IT majors earn most of their revenues from exports to the US. TCS, Wipro and Infosys are up 1-3%,each.
SBI which surged 9.7% on Friday witnessed profit taking and was down 2%. Select foreign brokerages had upgraded the PSU banking major on Friday after reporting a drop in bad loans even as higher provisioning dragged its net profit down 7.8 per cent in the fourth quarter ended March 2014.
Among other shares, Rolta India has soared 12% to Rs 101 after reporting a strong 90% year-on-year jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 139 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2014, on the back of higher operational income. The internet software and services firm had reported a profit of Rs 73 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.
In the broader market, BSE Mid-cap was down 0.8% and Small-cap index was down 1.3%.
Market breadth was firm with 1,508 gainers and 1,431 losers on the BSE.
At 3PM, the 30-share Sensex was up 56 points at 24,755 and the Nifty was flat at 7,365.
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(Updated at 2:35PM)
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Markets came off their intra-day highs as investors booked profits at higher levels, with the Sensex retreating over 500 points and the Nifty slipping into the negative terrain. Meanwhile, investors are eagerly awaiting the announcement of Cabinet Ministers.
At 2:35PM, the 30-share Sensex was down 101 points at 24,592 and the 50-share Nifty was down 53 points at 7,313.
The rupee weakened against the US dollar and was trading at 58.64 to its Friday's close of Rs 58.52. In early trades, the rupee had hit a high of Rs 58,44 tracking sharp gains in equities ahead of prime minister-elect Narendra Modi's swearing in ceremony later today.
Asian stocks firmed up tracking gains in US markets and easing of tensions in Ukraine after the country's chocolate tycoon Petro Poroshenko emerged victorious in the presidential election held on Sunday. He has been given an opportunity to resolve the long lasting conflict between the west and Russia and ensure political stability. China's Shanghai Composite was up by 0.3%. Nikkei 225 Average gained for the third straight day to end up 1% amid a weaker yen. Straits Times gained 0.2% while Hang Seng dipped 0.1%.
European shares were also trading firm tracking gains in Asia and developments in Ukraine. The CAC-40 and DAX were up 0.7-1.4% each.
BSE Capital Goods index was the top gainer among the sectoral indices up 4.3% followed by Auto, Power, Metal, Oil and Gas, IT and Bankex were up 0.6-2.9% each.
Infrastructure companies especially those involved in road-construction were among the top gainers after the National Highways Authority of India, responsible for development, maintenance and management of NHs, recently allowed nine of the stressed 23 road projects to reschedule their premium payments, a development that can revive stalled road works and attract investments.
L&T was up nearly 3% emerging as the top Sensex gainer. Among other shares in the road-construction space, IRB Infra was up 6% at Rs 202 and Sadbhav Engineering was up 3% at RS 184.
ONGC gained 1% after its overseas arm ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) signed a deal with Russia's largest oil and gas producer Rosneft to jointly explore hydrocarbons in the offshore Arctic.
Select auto stocks such as M&M and Tata Motors were also among the top Sensex gainers up 2-7% each.
ITC staged a recovery today and was up 1.3%, after slipping over 4% on Friday, post its fourth quarter numbers. The FMCG major reported a jump of 18 per cent in its final quarter net profit at Rs 2,278 crore against Rs 1,928 crore a year ago.
Despite an appreciating rupee, the IT exporters were gainers in today's session on the back of upbeat US home sales data signalling signs of an uptick in the world's largest economy. IT majors earn most of their revenues from exports to the US. TCS, Wipro and Infosys are up 1-3%,each.
SBI which surged 9.7% on Friday witnessed profit taking and was down 2%. Select foreign brokerages had upgraded the PSU banking major on Friday after reporting a drop in bad loans even as higher provisioning dragged its net profit down 7.8 per cent in the fourth quarter ended March 2014.
Among other shares, Rolta India has soared 12% to Rs 101 after reporting a strong 90% year-on-year jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 139 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2014, on the back of higher operational income. The internet software and services firm had reported a profit of Rs 73 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.
In the broader market, BSE Mid-cap was down 0.8% and Small-cap index was down 1.3%.
Market breadth was firm with 1,508 gainers and 1,431 losers on the BSE.