Sensex, Nifty gain 5th day; Tata Motors, Coal India, TCS up 3-4%

Moneycontrol Bureau3:30 pm Market close: The Sensex is up 72.00 points or 0.3 percent at 26725.60, and the Nifty is up 21.85 points or 0.3 percent at 8178.50. About 1229 shares have advanced, 1377 shares declined, and 188 shares are unchanged.Tata Motors, Coal India, NTPC, Hero MotoCorp and TCS are top gainers in the Sensex while BHEL, HDFC, Tata Steel, Maruti and Sun Pharma are losers.

3:10 pm Maruti halts production: The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India today announced temporary suspension of production following fire at the factory of its component supplier Subros Ltd.

The fire on Sunday at the Manesar facilities of Subros Ltd, which provides airconditioning compressors to Maruti Suzuki, has led to disruption of supplies.

"As a consequence, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd will have to temporarily suspend manufacture of cars at its facilities in Manesar and Gurgaon, starting second half Monday (May 30)," MSI said in a statement.

The company said MSI and Subros are jointly assessing the extent of damage to essential equipment.

2:59 pm Market Update: The Sensex rose 70.93 points to 26724.53 and the Nifty increased 21.70 points to 8178.35. The market breadth was negative as about 1322 shares declined against 1201 advancing shares on BSE.2:40 pm ONGC in news: ONGC Videsh (OVL) is set to make a foray into oil trading and has signed an initial pact with the trading arm of Azerbaijan's state energy company SOCAR, a source privy to the agreement said.

OVL, the overseas acquisition arm of India's biggest explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp , plans to initially sell its share of oil from the large Azeri, Chirag and Guneshli (ACG) group of fields in Azerbaijan through the new venture, the source said.

"At a later stage, OVL will look at opportunities to market its oil from other assets through the planned trading company with SOCAR," the source added.

2:20 pm Gold Update: The slide in both gold and silver continued unabated for the third day largely in tune with a weakening trend overseas amid tepid demand from jewellers and retailers in the domestic spot markets.

While gold dropped to Rs 28,665, silver dipped below the Rs 39,000-mark by falling Rs 500 to Rs 38,500 per kg due to reduced offtake by industrial units and coin makers.

Marketmen said sentiments remained weak largely in line with a weakening global trend as the prospect of higher borrowing costs in the US damped the appeal for the precious metals, strengthening the dollar.

Globally, gold fell 0.90 percent to USD 1,201.90 an ounce in Singapore, a level last seen in February.Also read - Sun Pharma Q4 profit seen up 113%, Gleevec may drive US sales2:00 pm Market Check

Equity benchmarks remained marginally higher in afternoon trade, driven by technology, auto and select banks. The broader markets also gained 0.4 percent each.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 86.24 points to 26739.84 and the 50-share NSE Nifty advanced 24.25 points to 8180.90.

Mahindra & Mahindra rebounded after pricing in lower-than-expected earnings in Q4. Profit increased 6 percent and revenue grew by 14.5 percent.

Infosys, Tata Motors, TCS, SBI, ICICI Bank, Hero Motocorp, Coal India and Dr Reddy's Labs gained 1-4 percent while HDFC, ITC, Asian Paints, Sun Pharma and Adani Ports fell 1-1.5 percent. BHEL plunged 4.5 percent.