Markets hold on to gains, Sensex up 1%

After a firm start, the markets held on to their gains in noon deals with the benchmark index trading at 16,725 levels, up a per cent or 161 points.

In the broader markets, the Nifty gained 1.2 per cent or 58 points. It is hovering at 4,896 levels.

Leading the pack of gainers at the Sensex is Reliance Energy. The counter moved up 11.4 per cent or Rs 115 in noon deals. Maruti Suzuki India, NTPC, BHEL, ICICI Bank, Reliance Communication, Reliance Industries and Bharti Airtel are some of the other key gainers.

However, Infosys Technologies at Rs 1,769 levels slipped 2.9 per cent or Rs 52. Ambuja Cements, ITC Limited, Satyam Computer, TCS, Grasim Industries and Bajaj Auto are also trading marginally in the red.

Oil stocks flare

Among sectoral indices, the BSE oil and gas index is the top gainer that flared 2.8 per cent or 257 points. Key gainers include GAIL India, HPCL, Reliance Industries, Cairn India, MRPL, Chennai Petroleum, IOC and BPCL.

Punjab National Bank, Allahabad Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Axis Bank, Andhra Bank, ICICI Bank, Centurion Bank of Punjab, Union Bank of India and Kotak Mahindra Bank are some of the top gainers in the banking space besides SBI.

Realty counters gained ground on the back of reports of HDFC slashing interest rates by 50 basis points with effect from Tuesday.

"Real estate has been a trading sector. However, the sector does look overbought on the technical charts; but one can still hold with strict stop losses," said Gautam Shah, Technical Analyst, JM Financial Services.

Unitech (up 3.1 per cent), DLF Limited (up 2 per cent), Sobha Developers (up 1.5 per cent), Anant Raj Industries (up 1.3 per cent) and Phoenix Mills (up 0.7 per cent) are some of the notable gainers.

Technology weak

The rising rupee has negatively impacted the sentiment among technology scrips. The BSE IT index skidded 1.7 per cent or 76 points in noon deals.

Satyam Computer, TCS, HCL Technologies, Patni Computer, Tech Mahindra and Wipro are some of the key losers besides heavyweight Infosys Technologies.

Sugar scrips also came under selling pressure on Monday. Kashipur Sugar Mills at Rs 23 levels slipped 4.7 per cent. Oudh Sugar, KM Sugar, Thiru Arooran Sugar, Sakthi Sugar, Bannari Amman Sugars and Bajaj Hindusthan are some of the other key losers.

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