 "Oil shares firm up in a flat market; RIL, ONGC up 1%")
Benchmark share indices remained choppy oscillating betweeen positive and negative terrain even as oil shares firmed tracking rebound in global crude oil prices amid rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
At 1:45pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 2 points at 25,625 and the Nifty50 was up 5 points at 7,797.
In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap were up 0.5%-0.7% each. Market breadth was strong with 1980 gainers and 762 losers on the BSE.
GLOBAL MARKETS
Asian markets ended lower after Chinese shares failed to sustain intra-day gains. The Shanghai Composite which had rebounded 3% in intra-day trade today ended with marginal losses down 0.3% while Nikkei ended down 0.4%. Hang Seng eased 0.4% while Straits Times fell 0.7%.
European shares opened higher today rebounding after a sharp fall in the previous session. Among the major stock indices in the region, DAX, FTSE and CAC-40 were up 0.7%-1% each.
SECTORS & STOCKS
BSE Metal index was the top gainer followed by Oil and Gas and Realty among others.
In the oil and gas space, Reliance Industries and ONGC were up 1.3% each.
Metal shares staged a recovery following stability in China after its central bank infused capital into the financial system. Tata Steel was up nearly 7% while Hindalco was up 2.7% and Vedanta was up 4.2%.
L&T was up nearly 1% after its subsidiary L&T Infotech has received clearance from Sebi for the proposed Rs 2,000 crore IPO.
Coal India was down 1.4% as offtake for December 2015 was lower at 48.16 mt against a target of 49.46 mt.
A stronger rupee led to profit taking in IT exporters with Infosys and TCS down 0.5%-1.1% each while Wipro was down 0.3%. Wipro announced a shuffle in the top management after Abidali Neemuchwala was promoted as CEO & Executive Director wile T K Kurien was promoted as Executive Vice Chairman.
Among others, shares of Gravita India surged 11% to Rs 34 after the company annouced its entry into plastic recycling business.
