The market gained for the second consecutive session today. The BSE benchmark rose 93.84 points to close at 17,278.85 and the NSE benchmark was up 26.40 points at 5,242.70.

But Atul Badkar of Edelweiss Securities says that the July series will see the Nifty capped at 5,300. â??My sense is that there is not too much upside to go from here any which way. I think 5,320 and 5,348 is where we made the previous high in this month, and these two continue to remain strong resistances,â?? he said.

According to him, global macro fundamentals and domestic factors will have to improve for the market to see further gains.

As hopes are building up for a diesel price hike soon after the Presidential election, Gautam Chhaochharia of UBS India feels that the government needs to hike diesel price to avoid a sovereign downgrade. According to him, the market is ignoring monsoon risks but has already factored in diesel price hike.

State-owned oil firms are currently selling diesel still at a loss of Rs 10.33 a litre. The government heavily subsidises diesel prices as the fuel powers much of the economy, especially in farming and transportation. Brent crude rose more than 20% in a month to USD 106 a barrel.

Shares of oil marketing companies like HPCL and IOC gained 1.8% and 1.4%, respectively. BPCL rose nearly 3%.

Country's second largest software services exporter Infosys topped the buying list, rising 3% while its rival TCS was up 0.4%.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries rallied 1.7% ahead of its first quarter earnings tomorrow after market hours.

State-owned power equipment manufacturer BHEL jumped over 2% as the cabinet is likely to discuss a proposal to impose 21% duty on equipment imported for power generation today. Engineering and construction major by sales Larsen & Toubro went up 0.4%.

Private sector lender ICICI Bank moved up 1.3% whereas its rival State Bank of India 1.3%. Housing finance company HDFC gained 1%.

Top commercial vehicle maker Tata Motors bounced back sharply with 1.3% gains as it had fallen in previous sessions due to lower than expected Jaguar and Land Rover's June sales numbers.

Bajaj Auto, country's second largest two-wheeler maker, extended gains after the company said the worst was over. The stock gained 1.76% today and yesterday it had rallied over 5%.

Top car maker Maruti Suzuki crashed nearly 9% after a strike at its Manesar plant. Telecom operator Bharti Airtel tanked over 2% ahead of EGoM meet tomorrow wherein the government is likely to decide spectrum reserve price.

Earnings

Hero Motocorp fell 1.4% after lower than expected earnings in the quarter ended June 2012.

Kotak Mahindra Bank was down 2.5% as company's non-performing assets increased during the first quarter of FY13. But, its net profit and net interest income came in higher than expectations.

Dr Reddy's Labs dropped 1% after less than expected net profit and revenues in the April-June quarter.

NIIT Technologies gained 1.7% after higher than expected numbers in Q1.

In the second line shares, GMR Infrastructure, GVK Power and Punj Lloyd were up 2-4%. SKS Microfinance and Mastek rallied over 12%.

Tata Global, JSW Steel and Mahindra Satyam rose over 2%. However, Union Bank of India, PFC and Hitachi Home were under pressure.

On the global front, Asian markets rose 0.7%-1.7% at close following positive US markets on better-than-expected earnings by Honeywell and Intel. European markets were up between 0.3% and 1%.

  14:18 Sensex off day's high; SBI declines, Maruti plunges over 8% The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty erased half of gains due to fall in State Bank of India and TCS. ICICI Bank, Tata Motors and Larsen & Toubro saw somewhat profit booking. But the market breadth remained in favour of advances. Read More »