The benchmark indices ended with marginal gains led by capital goods, technology, cement, auto, select metal and oil & gas stocks. The markets witnessed volatility throughout the session but traded majorly with positive bias.

However, the selling in Reliance Industries, ITC, SBI, NTPC, DLF, Reliance Infrastructure, Suzlon Energy, Tata Steel and PNB capped some of the gains in last hour of the trade. Theses stocks were down 1-5%, especially heavyweights remained weak for the whole day.

The 30-share BSE Sensex touched an intraday high of 15,257.30, before closing the day at 15,103.55 points, up 94.87 points or 0.63%. The 50-share NSE Nifty tested the 4600 mark during the day and hit a high of 4636.85, before closing 0.31% or 14.25 points higher at 4586.90.

TS Anantakrishnan, Director of Prime Wealth Management feels that the Nifty could possibly go up to 4,800, as there is enough momentum in the market. He said, ''I do not see the Nifty breaking below 4,200-4,300 at this point because even though the rally is been strong there is enough money which is right now chasing performance. We have seen USD 4 billion of cash come into the market and on the backdrop of about USD 19 billion which went out last time. There is an appetite for India at this point so we do not see much downside at this point other than the fact that there maybe sector rotation. We might see some consolidation but we will range around these levels.'' 

Among the frontliners, Grasim, Tata Motors, BHEL, L&T, Infosys, Tata Power, Hindalco and M&M were top gainers, went up 3-6%.

Sectoral Performance

Friday's buzzing sector was sugar, as CLSA initiated coverage on the sector with a buy rating. Bajaj Hindusthan was up 8.91% and Bannariamman gained 12.79%. Balrampur Chini, Dhampur Sugar, Dharani Sugars, Dwarikesh Sugar, KCP Sugar, Oudh Sugar Mill, Ponni Sugars(E), Rajshree Sugars, Sakthi Sugars, Shree Renuka Sugars, Simbhaoli Sugar, Triveni Engg, Upper Ganges and Uttam Sugar surged 2.5-5%.

The BSE Capital Goods Index outperformed other indices, gained 370.71 points or 2.95% at 12,922.44. BHEL was up 5.3% and L&T gained 4.35%. Siemens rose 0.78%.

Technolgy stocks like Infosys surged 3.91%. TCS was up 1.93% and Wipro went up 0.49%, which helped the IT Index to close at 3,154.35, up 2.61% or 80.35 points over previous close.

Auto and cement stocks were also seen buying interest. The BSE Auto Index was up 2.49% or 119.96 points, to settle at 4,934.06. Hero Honda and Tata Motors were up over 5%. M&M, Ashok Leyland and Apollo Tyres gained 2.4-3%. Maruti Suzuki was up 0.73%.

In the cement space, Grasim hogged the limelight, gained 5.7% on the buzz that L&T sold its cross holding in the company. ACC gained 2.93% and Ambuja Cements rose 0.98%.

There was a mixed trend in metal, oil & gas, banking and power sectors. The BSE Bankex closed just 39.63 points or 0.49% higher at 8,204.28, as ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank went up over 2% while SBI fell 3.09%.

Power and Metal indices closed almost flat at 3,008.64 and 11,695.50, respectively.

In the metal pack, Hindalco, Sterlite, NALCO, SAIL and Jindal Steel were up 0.8-3.4% while JSL, Jindal Saw and Tata Steel lost 1.4-3.4%.

However, the BSE FMCG Index was down 2.34% or 53.19 points, to 2,219.58, as ITC plunged 5.46%. United Breweries, Ruchi Soya, United Spirits and Tata Tea were down 0.9-3.2%.

In the realty space, HDIL, Indiabulls Real, Puravankara Projects and DLF declined 2-5.7%. The BSE Realty Index fell 2%.

The BSE Oil & Gas Index fell 80.15 points or 0.77%, to settle at 10,324.09. Reliance Industries lost 1.94% and Reliance Petroleum slipped 1.55%. However, HPCL, IOC, Cairn India, BPCL and ONGC gained 1-3.7%.

Among the broader indices, the BSE Midcap Index fell 36.30 points, to 5,409.78 and the Smallcap Index slipped 1.02% or 66.54 points, to 6,458.65.

The market breadth was positive; about 1559 shares advanced while 1335 shares declined on the BSE. Nearly 245 shares remained unchanged.

Total traded turnover remained above Rs 1 lakh crore mark today as well, which stood at 1,01,636.53 crore. This included Rs 26,735.22 crore from NSE cash segment, Rs 65,938.39 crore from NSE F&O and the balance Rs 8,962.92 crore from BSE cash segment.

Global cues

At the time of closing of Indian equities, European markets were trading higher. The FTSE was up 58 points, to 4,445. The CAC rose 26 points, to 3,338 and the DAX gained 19 points at 5,084.

Among the US futures, the Dow Jones futures went up just 19 points, to 8,749 and the Nasdaq futures rose 3 points, to 1,496.

Asian markets ended slightly mixed. Hang Seng, Nikkei, Straits Times and Seoul Composite went up 1-1.4%. Jakarta Composite was up 2.27%. However, Shanghai Composite fell 0.48% and Taiwan Weighted lost 0.28%.