Sensex closes 76 points up on HDFC, RIL, SBI, L&T support

Indian equity benchmarks gained momentum in last hour of trade after a consolidation that started on Wednesday. The market already rallied more than 5% in previous two weeks led by liquidity; foreign institutional investors had bought more than Rs 6,500 crore worth of shares in two weeks.

The market is waiting for a trigger to drive the rally further; that trigger may be some reforms by the government to revive sluggish economy growth or stimulus from Eurozone or US central banks. Tomorrow's inflation will also be closely watched by the market as the Reserve Bank of India's main target is to bring inflation down below comfort level of 7%. Analysts on an average expect it in the vicinity of 7.24% for July as against 7.25% in previous month while core inflation around 5-5.4% versus 4.9% in June.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 75.71 points to close at 17,633.45, supported by SBI, Reliance Industries, L&T and HDFC group's stocks. Meanwhile, the 50-share NSE Nifty went up 27.50 points to 5,347.90.

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty continued to consolidate around their previous closing values after a rally of more than 5.5% in previous two weeks. The consolidation may be ahead of inflation data that scheduled for August 14; analysts on an average expect it at around 7.24% for July as against 7.25% in previous month while core inflation around 5-5.4% versus 4.9% in June.

The BSE benchmark rose 2 points to 17,559.86 and the NSE benchmark went up 2 points to 5,322.30.

Housing finance company extended gains to 2.5% whereas top commercial vehicle maker Tata Motors remained top loser with 2.6% losses.

Vedanta group company Sterlite Industries and country's largest car manufacturer Maruti Suzuki rallied 2% each.

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel and state-owned power equipment manufacturer BHEL jumped 1.5%.

Engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro was up 0.9% and index heavyweight Reliance Industries moved up 0.7%.

India's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank fell 1.2% while its rival State Bank of India gained 0.3%. Cigarette major ITC went down 0.7%.

Shares of TCS, HUL, Tata Steel, Hindalco Industries, Hero Motocorp and Jindal Steel were down 1-2%.

Indian equity benchmarks were completely lacklustre in trade on Monday due to listless trade in global peers. State Bank of India rebounded with 0.6% gains after a fall of nearly 8% due to rising non-performing assets during the April-June quarter.

The 30-share BSE benchmark went down 7 points to 17,551.01 and the 50-share BSE Sensex was down 1.5 points to 5,318.90 while European markets opened flat with a negative bias.

Country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank fell more than 1.4%. Aluminium major Hindalco Industries declined 1.7%.

Commercial vehicle maker Tata Motors topped the selling list with loss of more than 2% on profit booking. Two-wheeler major Hero Motocorp went down 1.5% whereas Maruti Suzuki was the biggest gainer with more than 2% gains as the company will decide on Menasar plant reopening today.

FMCG majors ITC and HUL were down around 0.7-1%. Top software services exporter TCS dropped 0.7% while its rival Infosys gained 0.3%.

State-owned oil & gas producer ONGC trimmed gains to 0.5% from 3.8% due to profit booking. The company's first quarter net profit jumped 48% year-on-year to Rs 6078 crore. Its rival Reliance Industries too went up 0.5%.

Housing finance company HDFC and telecom operator Bharti Airtel climbed 1.6% each. Shares of BHEL, Sun Pharma, Wipro and Sterlite Industries gained 1% each.

Engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro was up just 0.3%, even after its subsidiary L&T Construction has received orders worth Rs 2,008 crore.

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty continued to trade in narrow range around their previous closing values due to lack of trigger globally and locally.

Hemant Thukral of Aditya Birla Money says, 5,240-5,250 are strong support base for the Nifty. "On the higher side, real challenge will start from 5,380, till 5,450," he adds.

The BSE benchmark rose 5 points to 17,562.60 and the NSE benchmark went up 2 points to 5,322.30.

Oil & gas producers Reliance Industries and ONGC moved up 0.6% each. Housing finance company HDFC gained nearly 1%.

Infosys, India's No. 2 IT services exporter was up 0.7% whereas its rival Tata Consultancy Services fell 0.4%.

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel rallied 1.7% on short covering while Reliance Communications was up 1% and Idea Cellular surged 2%.

Country's largest car maker extended gains to 2.3% as the company will decide on Menasar plant reopening today.

Drug producer Sun Pharma gained 1% as the company and its subsidiary Taro entered into a merger agreement.

Private sector lender ICICI Bank dropped over 1% while its rival State Bank of India was up 0.5%.

FMCG majors ITC and Hindustan Unilever went up more than 0.5%. Top commercial vehicle maker Tata Motors tanked 2% and two-wheeler major Hero Motocorp declined 1%.

Indian shares remained volatile as they were consolidating at previous closing levels after rising more than 5.5% in last two weeks on strong inflow of foreign money. Foreign institutional investors bought more than Rs 6,500 crore worth of Indian equities in previous two weeks.

Country's largest maker Maruti Suzuki rallied 2% as reports that the company will decide on Menasar plant reopening today. Top telecom operator Bharti Airtel gained nearly 2% on short covering as the stock had fallen more than 10% in previous session due to disappointing June quarter results.

State-owned ONGC trimmed gains to 1.8% from 3.8% on profit booking; the company's Q1FY13 net profit surged 48% to Rs 6,078 crore YoY.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 6 points at 17,563.86 and the 50-share NSE Nifty went up 5 points to 5,325.30. The broader markets were outperforming benchmarks with 0.4% gains.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries rose 0.3% as the company sold 25% stake in Yemen oil block for USD 90 million. Housing finance company HDFC too was up 0.3%.

State-owned power equipment manufacturer BHEL gained more than 1% while engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro went up 0.3%.

Cigarette major ITC fell 1% and top commercial vehicle maker Tata Motors dropped 1.5%.

Country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank tanked 1% while its rival State Bank of India was down 0.7%. Technology majors TCS, Infosys and Wipro were marginally lower.

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty started off Monday trade on a flat note due to lack of global and domestic cues. ONGC shot up 3% after the company's net profit jumped 48% in the first quarter of FY13.

The BSE benchmark gained just 1.6 points at 17,559.33 while the NSE benchmark was down 1 point to 5,319.40.

Asian markets were flat; Shanghai and Kospi fell 0.5% while Hang Seng, Nikkei, Straits Times and Taiwan Weighted were flat.

Back home, Bharti Airtel gained over 1% on short covering after falling in previous sessions due to disappointing results.

Maruti, JSPL, Cairn India, BHEL and Infosys were other gainers in early trade.

Siemens tanked over 3% after a sharp fall in net profit to Rs 36.4 crore in June quarter from Rs 155 crore YoY.

Tata Motors, M&M, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, JP Associates and L&T were under pressure

The CNX Midcap Index went up 12 points to 7,251 as the market breadth was in favour of advances.

In the second line shares, Kingfisher Airlines, Hathway Cable and Shipping Corporation were down due to weak numbers in June quarter. Gujarat NRE Coke tumbled 3% while Reliance Capital gained over 1%.

Deccan Chronicle tanked 4% as promoters pledged 28.71% stake to ICICI Bank.

Suzlon Energy and Jain Irrigation were up over 1%.

Hindustan Zinc rose 1.5% and Pantaloon Retail gained 0.8%.

Alok Industries and Balrampur Chini were under pressure.