News Tonight

Indian bourses were seeing a jerky trading session as the bulls breathed after a sharp short-covering rally.

As per market analysts, the benchmarks are likely to strengthen in the coming time prior to F&O expiry.

Mitesh Thacker of miteshthacker. com stated, "We have seen a very good rally for the last couple of days and there is no way that high beta stocks can be left out of this but we might be coming to a level where we will attract some selling or supply in terms of profit booking to happen."

Thacker added that the stock market may rule in the range of 100 to 120 points for the next 3-4 days leading into the expiry. At 11:30 a. m., the Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex declined 11.09 points (0.06%) remained at 18401.32 after hitting an intraday high of 18527.45 and an intraday low of 18323.44.

National Stock Exchange's Nifty stood at 5,518.05 after declining 8.55 points (0.15%) after hitting an intraday high of 5558.30 and an intraday low of 5496.35 in trade thus far.

"If indices trade above 18494 / 5553 levels then they are likely to 18673 - 18730 / 5600 - 5620 level. However we have seen a vertical three day rally, hence a consolidation of the gains cannot be ruled out. On the downside indices have support at 18270 - 18111 / 5482 - 5438 levels may act support for the day," Angel Broking note stated.

The BSE Midcap Index remained up by 0.44% and the BSE Smallcap Index surged 0.28%.

Amongst sectoral indices, the BSE Realty Index remained down by 0.85%, the BSE FMCG Index fell 0.76% and the BSE IT Index dipped 0.64%.

The BSE Healthcare Index surged 0.64%, the BSE Auto Index gained 0.40% and the BSE Metal Index grew by 0.35%.