Sensex, Nifty Extend Gains Paced By Value Buying In IT, Pharma Shares

The Indian equity benchmarks extended gains in noon deals on the back of value buying in information technology, pharma, banking and real estate shares. The Sensex rose as much as 1,082 points to hit an intraday high of 54,505.68 and Nifty 50 index moved above important psychological level of 16,300.

As of 1:07 pm, the Sensex was up 1,015 points to 54,438.76 and Nifty 50 iindex climbed 288 points to 16,302.

The markets are gaining on the back of short covering after going into oversold zone, analysts said. Exit polls indicating Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) winning in four out of assembly elections also lifted investors' sentiment, they added.

"The UP election is considered important from the market perspective as it is a major state to define the political situation and it could have caused a major swing in the market if there was no big global event. Earlier, the market was a little doubtful about the majority of BJP in UP but now there is some confidence after exit polls. Market pundits are also not very enthusiastic about the UP election amid global concerns however they feel BJP will be able to gain a majority with lesser seats compared to the last election. The outcome of election results will have an impact for a day or two and we will see a positive reaction in the market if BJP comes in UP but if the global situation doesn't improve then we will see sell on rising in the market. If BJP doesn't come in UP then we will see a knee-jerk reaction in the market towards the 15500 level but after then the direction of the market will depend on the global situation," said  Parth Nyati, Founder of Tradingo.

Buying was visible across sectors as all the 15 sector gauges, barring the measure of metal shares, were trading higher led by the Nifty Media index's 4 per cent gain. Bank, Auto, IT, Pharma, PSU Bank, Healthcare and Consumer Durable shares were also facing buying interest after getting beaten down in last week.

Broader markets were also facing buying interest as Nifty Midcap 100 and Smallcap 100 indices rose 2 per cent each.

Mahindra & Mahindra was top Nifty gainer, the stock rose 4.2 per cent to Rs 730. Tata Motors, Reliance Industries, Adani Ports, Ultratech Cement, Grasim Industries, Bajaj Finserv, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finance and Infosys also rose between 2.8-3.9 per cent.

On the flipside, Shree Cements, ONGC, Power Grid, NTPC, JSW Steel, Nestle India, Tata Steel, Indian Oil, Hindalco and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the notable losers.

The overall market breadth was extremely positive as 2,587 shares were advancing while 665 were declining on the BSE.