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Markets remained volatile in afternoon deals, with the Sensex recovering it's lows on buying interest in software and oil shares. The BSE Sensex was up 100 points at 19,529. Nifty, meanwhile was up 26 points at 5,907.
Meanwhile, the rupee today fell by a whopping 71 paise to hit a new life-time low of 57.77 in the late morning trade on persistent dollar demand from importers and and banks amid the US currency gaining overseas.
The rupee resumed lower at 57.18 against the dollar as against the last weekend's level of 57.06 per dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) Market and dropped further to an all-time low of 57.77 per dollar.
BSE IT index was the top gainer - up 1.2% at 6,212. The IT index gained as the dollar strengthened. The US is the biggest market for IT services firms such as TCS, Wipro and Infosys.
Oil & gas index was up half a per cent, followed by FMCG and capital goods indices. On the other hand, BSE consumer durables index shed 1.5% at 7,269. Healthcare and auto shares also showed some pressure.
NTPC gained 2.6% at Rs 152. HDFC was up 2.5% at Rs 861. From the IT pack, Wipro and Infosys gained 1.5-2% each. Bajaj Auto and Hero MotoCorp were up 1% each, followed by HDFC Bank, M&M and Reliance.
On the other hand, Jindal Steel shed 2.7% at Rs 272. BHEL was down 2%, while Tata Motors and Maruti slipped 1.5-2% each.
BSE market breadth was weak. Out of 2,255 shares traded, 1,197 shares declined while 916 shares advanced in trades.
