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Markets continue to remain volatile in a narrow range with Sensex and Nifty swinging between negative and positive zone.
By 13:35 PM, the Sensex gained by 22 points at 19,186 mark whereas the Nifty was flat at 5,680.
On the global front, European shares hit a new two-month high on Monday, mirroring gains in the United States where the S&P 500 hit a record high after mixed U.S. jobs data raised expectations a withdrawal of stimulus would be delayed.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.4% higher at 1,229.16 points.
Back home, the Indian rupee trimmed its initial gains but was still quoted up by 16 paise to 60.94 per dollar in late morning session today on selling of the US currency by banks in view of foreign capital inflows into equity market.
On the sectoral front, BSE Metal index has surged by almost 2% followed by counters like FMCG, IT and TECk, all gaining by 1% each. However, BSE Capital Goods and Power indices have declined between 3-4%.
The main gainers on the Sensex at this hour include Coal India, Sterlite, JSPL, NTPC and Tata Steel, all surging between 2-4%.
On the losing side, BHEL has slumped by over 18%. Tata Power, Tata Motors, HDFC and L&T have declined by 2% each.
Among other shares, Financial Technologies has zoomed by over 26% after slumping 73% over the previous two sessions.
Financial Technologies shares had slumped last week to a record low after commodities exchange unit National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) suspended trading in most one-day forward contracts.
NSEL said on Sunday most of its trading members had proposed settling outstanding contracts over several months after the trading suspension.
Tech Mahindra is trading higher by 3% at Rs 1,273 after the company said it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with select Indian Universities to impart industry ready skills in IT Infrastructure Management Services (IMS).
The broader markets continue to underperform the benchmark indices. BSE Midcap index has declined by nearly 1% whereas BSE Smallcap index is marginally negative.
The market breadth in BSE remains weak with 1,136 shares declining and 886 shares advancing.
