The markets are trading firm after a weak opening. At 10:05 am, the Sensex is up 22.44 points at 6467.57. It has touched an intraday low of 6432.17. The Nifty is up 8.80 points at 1994.75.
Auto stocks gain
Metal & oil stock firm
Analysts say that the market looks rangebound, with a moderately bullish bias till 2030 on the Nifty and 6530 on the Sensex. There has been short covering over the last two days and if this continues, the downside is limited. However, the upside would also be limited unless fresh longs are created.
The BSE Auto Index has outperformed the other indices. It is up 0.98% riding the gains in Maruti, Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto, and Hindustan Motors.
Oil stocks including BPCL, HPCL, and Petronet LNG have firmed up. The Nymex crude has slipped to $50 per barrel as crude inventories rise to highest level since 1999. However, IPCL and ONGC are down. There are reports that ONGC's all bids to buy out Canada's First Calgary has been rejected and it may re-submit bid if First Calgary invites fresh bids.
Stocks including Wipro, Sun Pharma, PNB, Asian Paints, Tata Infotech, Aarti Industries, Stride Arcolab, SRF, BEML, Gujarat NRE Coke, Venkey's India, Rama Newsprint and Bombay Dyeing have gained.
Metal stocks including Tisco, Ispat Industries have also firmed up. Cement stocks including Gujarat Ambuja Cements and L&T have also gained.
However, heavyweights including, Reliance, Satyam, Infosys, Dr Reddy's are witnessing selling pressure.
Stocks including Shipping Corporation, Bharti Tele Ventures, OBC, Saksoft, and India Cements have also lost the ground
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