Sensex back to green on May 26th

The benchmark Sensex was trading with more than 200 points gains but there was a bit of volatility ahead of May expiry tomorrow. Short covering was playing an important role today as the markets went near to 3-1/2 months lows on Tuesday.

All BSE sectoral indices were in green. Realty, Metal, IT, Bank, Oil & Gas, Capital Goods and Auto indices gained 1-2%. However, Idea Cellular, HUL, Reliance Capital, Jindal Steel, Sun Pharma and ACC were the only losers on Nifty.

Asian markets were also quite supportive following positive strong recovery in US markets on Tuesday. Hang Seng, Nikkei, Straits Times, Kospi and Taiwan went up 0.8-1.8%. Jakarta rose 3.7% and Shanghai gained 0.4%.

The Sensex was trading at 16267, down 245 points and the Nifty was at 4880, up 73 points. The Nifty May future was trading with 2 points premium while June futures with 10 points discount.

Top gainers - Sterlite Industries was trading at Rs 627, up 3.16%; Hindalco was at Rs 141.85, up 3.01%; DLF was at Rs 263.30, up 2.83%; TCS was at Rs 714.70, up 2.28%; Tata Motors was at Rs 688.90, up 2.26%; SAIL was at Rs 192.65, up 3.05% and IDFC was at Rs 146.55, up 2.77%.

The broader indices were also up one percent each. About 1934 shares advanced while 903 shares declined on the BSE. Nearly 459 shares were unchanged.

In the midcap space, JM Financial, Shree Global, Nagarjuna Construction, REI Six Ten and Shree Cements were up 4-7% while Patel Engg, IOB, Aventis Pharma, Oriental Bank and Triveni Engg slipped 1-6%.

In the smallcap space, Marathon Nextgen, Ajmera Realty, Hanung Toys, Tamil Newsprint and S Kumars Nationwide surged 5-13% while Kanani Industries, Maharashtra Polybutenes, Shristi Infra, Sahara One and Rollatainers declined 4-5%.