Sensex ekes out slim gains...FMCG shares rally

The Indian market closed marginally higher on Thursday but not without some high drama towards the end of the session when key indices suddenly turned red only to rebound equally faster.



Overnight gains on Wall Street and positive trend across Asian markets set the tone early in the morning. The key indices held on to the moderate gains for most part of the session before turning choppy in afternoon.

"Thankfully for the bulls the close wasn't all that bad after two successive days of declines. The afternoon volatility could be attributed to the expiry of August F&O contracts," says Amar Ambani, Vice-President - Research, India Private Clients, IIFL. The last trading day of a derivative settlement generally leads to intraday swings in the equity markets.

"Going forward, the undertone is likely to remain cautiously optimistic for India. But, global markets could continue to be choppy amid mounting worries over economic recovery in key regions, especially the US," he added.

The BSE Sensex closed at 18,218, up 38 points over the previous close. It had earlier been as high as 18,261 and as low as 18,159 after opening at 18,194.

The NSE Nifty was up by nearly 15 points at 5,478 after touching a low of 5,454 and a high of 5,486. It had opened at 5,462.

The BSE Small-Cap index and the BSE Mid-Cap index closed nearly flat.

In terms of sectors, FMCG and Power indices on the BSE led the rise today.

Banking, PSUs, Capital Goods and Auto indices were marginally up. Select IT, Pharma, Metal, Consumer Durables, Oil & Gas and Realty stocks were in the red.

NTPC, DLF, ITC, SBI, HDFC, Bharti Airtel, Jindal Steel, Tata Power, ABB, Power Grid, Gail, and BPCL were among the top winners in the Sensex and the Nifty.

RCOM, RIL, Sterlite, HUL, Suzlon, RPower, Cairn India, IDEA and Sun Pharma were among the big losers in the main indices.

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