)
Markets firmed up after the first hour of trade helped by shortcovering and renewed buying interest in private banking major ICICI Bank while Maruti Suzuki extended gains on robust March quarter earnings.
At 10:28AM, the 30-share Sensex was up 162 points at 27,339 and the 50-share Nifty was up 42 points at 8,255.
"For the Sensex resistance is at 27193 above 27253, 27301 and 27477. Support is at 27141 below 27051 and 26983. For the Nifty resistance is seen at 8239 above 8266, 8280, 8307 and 8355. Support is at 8192 below 8178 and more," Geojit BNP Paribas said in a technical note
Sectors & Stocks
Realty, Power, Oil and Gas, Auto and Bankex were the top sectoral gainers. Healthcare, FMCG and IT indices were the top losers.
ICICI Bank extended gains and was up 6%. On Monday, the stock had corrected post its March quarter earnings on concerns of higher non-performing assets in the fourth quarter.
Maruti Suzuki extended gains and was up 2.5% after reporting a strong 61% year on year net profit growth at Rs 1,284 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2015 (Q4FY15).
Telecom majors were trading mixed ahead of their March quarter earnings. Bharti Airtel was down 1.3% while Idea Cellular was up 1.5%.
Other gainers include, Tata Motors, Axis Bank and SBI among others.
Meanwhile, pharma shares continue to witness profit taking. Dr Reddy's Labs, Cipla and Sun Pharma were down 0.3-1.2% each.
IT shares also remained subdued. TCS, Infosys, Wipro and HCL Tech were down 0.7-1.8% each.
Mortgage lender HDFC was down 0.9% ahead of its March quarter earnings tomorrow.
Other losers include, HDFC Bank and ITC.
Among other shares, Geometric slumped 10% after reporting 80% quarter on quarter drop in its consolidated net profit at Rs 3.29 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2015 (Q4) due to lower operational revenues. The IT consulting & software company had registered a profit of Rs 16.36 crore in December 2014 quarter.
Wockhardt were trading lower by 9%, extending its previous day’s 18% fall on the NSE, after the drug maker said that it has decided to recall the remaining batches of some products manufactured in the facilities at L1- Chikalthana and Waluj in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, as a part of remedial measure.
In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices were up 0.8% each.
Market breadth was positive with 1,223 gainers and 715 losers on the BSE.
