Indian stocks held to their gains in early afternoon tradedue to strength in oil & gas, metal, FMCG and auto space. Meanwhile, thebroader market lost some steam after being firm from the start of trade.
In global markets, stock benchmarks in Asiawere mixed and choppy following the dip in US shares. The Shanghai Compositeindex was down 0.5%.
Meanwhile, spot gold touched a record high of $1,175.80 pertroy ounce, up $7.60 from the New Yorkclose.
At 12:58 pm, theBSE Sensex was trading at 17,248.41, up 117 points or 0.7% from the last close.The NSE Nifty gained 0.6% at 5123.25. The BSE Small-Cap index and the BSEMid-Cap index were up 0.6% and 0.4%, respectively.
Within the Sensex, the top gainers were ITC,RIL, Hero Honda, M&M, Maruti Suzuki, Sterlite, TCS and ACC. The list oflosers included the likes of DLF, L&T, Sun Pharma and Tata Power.
Among the sectoral BSE indices, Oil & Gas, FMCG andMetals gained 1-1.6%. Auto, IT and Banking index were also up marginally.
KPIT Cummins, NESCO, M&M Financial, MMTC and BPCL ledthe gains among the non-index stocks.
Motherson Sumi, Indiabulls Real Estate, NIIT, ChambalFertilizers and Nagarjuna Fertilizers were among the leading losers in thebroader market.
With F&O expiry just a day away, it would be wise toremain non-committal. The main indices will remain mostly sluggish in a tightrange. The Nifty is likely to face resistance as it moves towards the yearshigh around 5200. Support may kick in at around 5040-5050.
Global events, particularly those in the US,will continue to drive the sentiment. Markets in the USwill be shut on Thursday for Thanksgiving and will close early on Friday.
Next week will be important, as global markets try to gaugethe mood of the USconsumer this holiday season following the Black Friday, the day afterThanksgiving and the start of the crucial holiday shopping period in the US.
Back home, the immediate event to watch out for will be thesecond quarter GDP data, due on Nov. 30.After a soft October and a steady November, trading in global equities couldturn listless as everyone sort of wraps up the year.
Fund flows might slow down, which will have repercussionsfor emerging markets like India.Having said that, if economic reports continue to show improvement, there is apossibility that world markets could make new highs for the year.