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Markets turned choppy after the chief election commissioner of India --V.S Sampath sounded the election bugle today declaring the Lok Sabha eleciton dates. Lok Sabha polls process will take place in 9 phases beginning April 7 and will continue till May 12.
Market come off morning highs as profit booking emerged at higher levels with heavyweight names like ITC, RIL and HDFC leading the losses. The much-awaited schedule for the Lok Sabha polls will be announced by the Election Commission within the next hour.
At 1015 hrs, the Sensex was up 28 points at 21,237 and the Nifty was up 10 points at 6,308.
However, the broader markets held ground with both the mid and smallcap indices adding on to its earlier gains. The midcap index gained 0.7% and the smallcap index inched up to 0.5%.
Consumer Durables down 1.4% continues to remain the top sectoral loser. Power, Auto and FMCG indices have turned weak with the indices turning flat with a negative bias.
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(Updated at 1015hrs)
Mirroring global markets, the benchmark indices started half a percent higher as investor risk appetite revived after Russian President Vladimir Putin allayed fears of an imminent military conflict in Ukraine.
In opening trades, the Sensex was up 114 points at 21,323 and the Nifty gained 27 points to trade at 6,324.
In the broader markets, the midcap index was up 0.5% and the smallcap index added on 0.3%.
In Asia, stocks jumped and the safe-haven yen licked its wounds after a sharp tumble on Wednesday.
Putin said Russia reserved the right to use all options to protect compatriots who were living in "terror" in Ukraine, but that force was not needed for now.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.6%. Tokyo's Nikkei jumped 1.5%.
Overnight, US stocks rallied, with the S&P 500 closing at a record as Russia and Ukraine concerns eased, and the market recovered more than all of the previous session's hefty losses.
The day's gains followed Wall Street's worst day in a month, when investors sold stocks and other risky assets as tensions escalated between Ukraine and Russia.
The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 1.41%, to end at 16,396. The S&P 500 gained 1.53%, to finish at 1,874. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.75%, to close at 4,352.
Sectors and Stocks
All the sectoral indices were in the positive territory except Consumer Durables index which was down 1%.
Among the gainers were Realty, Bankex, Capital Goods, Metal, Teck, IT and Health Care indices which added 0.5-0.7%.
Hindalco down 1% was the top loser among the Sensex-30 pack .
Tata Power, HDFC, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Auto, HDFC Bank, Hero MotoCorp, GAIL and Reliance Industries down 0.2-0.8% rounded off the losers list in the opening trades.
TCS, Tata Steel, Dr Reddys Lab, Axis Bank and ONGC up 1-2% were the major gainers.
ONGC, Coal India, Wipro, Maruti Suzuki, ICICI Bank, Sun Pharma and Cipla down 0.6-0.9% were some of the other notable gainers.
Bharti Infratel rallied over 5% to Rs 203, after Reliance Jio Infocomm signed an agreement with the company to utilise the telecom tower infrastructure of the latter to launch its services across the country.
The market breadth was very positive on the BSE. 847 stocks advanced while 277 stocks declined.
