 "Nifty above 6,250; Metals, Consumer Durables in focus")
At 11:25 hours, the 30-share Sensex was up 76 points at 21,022, while the Nifty-50 gained by 21 points to 6,242.
Broader markets outperformed the benchmark, with the BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap gaining 0.68% each, compared to Sensex's gain of 0.4%.
At 62.01, the rupee was marginally up 3 paise compared to yesterday's close of 62.04 versus the dollar. Abating concerns over Ukraine has helped restored some faith in the domestic currency.
FII investors bought Indian shares worth 1.98 billion rupees on Monday, extending their buying streak to a 12th day for a total of $765 million, as per provisional data from the exchanges
Breadth of the market was positive, with 1281 advances, 876 declines, and 121 scrips remaining unchanged.
Asian Markets
Asian shares also firmed up after witnessing a selloff in earlier sessions due to tensions over Ukraine. "Investors seem to think that Russia will take Crimea and the West will impose sanctions on Moscow, but there will likely be no military clash," said Kyoya Okazawa, the head of global equity and commodity derivatives at BNP Paribas in Tokyo.
Nikkei-225 was up by 59 points, or 0.4%, to 14,711, Singapore's Strait Times was up 0.3% at 3,096 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng also gained 0.3% to 22,575.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan sagged about 0.1%.
Sectors and Stocks
Amongst the various sectoral indices, the S&P BSE Metal and Consumer Durables were leading the list of gainers, rising 1.6% and 1.4% respectively. After a losing streak, all the scrips in the Metal index were green today, led by gains of 2-3% each in index heavyweights Hindalco and Sesa Sterlite.
Consumer Durables extended its rise on the back of 2-4% gains in PC Jeweller and Titan Company. Bankex, Power, FMCG, and Oil and Gas were also up by 0.3-0.8%. On the other hand, Healthcare, IT, Auto, and Realty declined by 0.1-0.8% each.
On the other hand, Dr. Reddys Lab, Bajaj Auto, and Sun Pharma declined by 1-1.3% each. Less than one-third of the index constituents were in the red.
Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) on Monday bought a 4.66% stake in Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) from the government in a block deal totalling Rs 1,889 crore, BSE Ltd data shows. LIC bought 114.1 million shares of BHEL at Rs 165.55 each.
Among other stocks, Ramco Systems is locked in upper circuit of 5% at Rs 220 on the BSE after Malaysia Airlines announced a strategic partnership with the company for a suite of critical enterprise-wide engineering solutions that includes aircraft maintenance, maintenance service sales, operational, human resources and financial functions.
Shares of Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) surged almost 6% to Rs. 13.95 after the company said that its joint venture with GVPR Engineers (GVPR), has been awarded a contract for diversion of flood water from Sakleshpura (West) to Kolar / Chikkaballapur (East) under Yettinahole Diversion Project-Package-4 from Karnataka Neeravari Nigam Ltd.
AstraZeneca Pharma India has rallied 9% to Rs 1,209, extending its Monday’s 20% surge, ahead of its board meeting tomorrow to consider the delisting proposal received from the promoter.
GMR Infrastructure is up 1.5% at Rs. 20.70 after a consortium led by the firm won the construction package of the rail line doubling between Jhansi and Bhimsen stations in Uttar Pradesh.