Buying interest seen in select auto and FMCG stocks supported Dalal Street, whereas selling pressure witnessed in select private bank and metal scrips limited the upside.
The S&P BSE Sensex index rose as much as 263.65 points to touch 50,901.18 in the first few minutes of trade before giving up most of those early gains. The broader NSE Nifty 50 benchmark climbed to as high as 15,258.60, up 50.15 points from its previous close, before trimming those advances.
Titan was the top gainer in the Nifty50 universe, up 1.83 per cent in early deals. Grasim, SBI Life, M&M, BPCL and Cipla were among other top performers.
On the other hand, JSW Steel was the top laggard, down 3.67 per cent. Tata Steel, Hindalco, Power Grid and ICICI Bank were among other losers.
Analysts awaited more Q4 results from India Inc for cues.
BPCL, Berger Paints, Pfizer, Cummins India and Manappuram Finance are among some of the companies slated to report their quarterly earnings later in the day.
KIOCL, V-Guard Industries, FDC, Burger King India, Hindustan Foods, Karur Vysya Bank and Sharda Cropchem will also announce their March quarter results on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, equities in other Asian markets rose, shunning Wall Street jitters overnight after the US Federal Reserve reaffirmed a dovish monetary policy stance that eased inflation concerns. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.24 per cent.
Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.28 per cent, South Korea’s Kospi 0.33 per cent, Australia’s ASX 200 0.14 per cent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng 0.55 per cent.
Overnight on Wall Street, the three benchmark indices moved lower amid fears about the state of the US economic recovery. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 0.24 per cent, the S&P500 0.21 per cent and the technology stocks-heavy Nasdaq Composite 0.03 per cent.
In the oil market, crude prices were steady amid concerns a possible resumption in Iranian supply would cause a glut were offset by hopes for stronger US fuel demand. Brent crude oil futures for July rose 0.1 per cent to $68.70 per barrel.
THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY. MORE TO COME…
