The benchmark indices have come off their highs in afternoon trading as investors have seemingly taken some profits off the table. The BSE Sensex, which had soared as much as 583 points to touch an intraday high of 50,327.31, has surrendered more than 500 points from intra-day highs and slipped below the 50,000 mark in the process. At 12:55 pm, the BSE Sensex was trading at 49,830.82, higher by 81.87 points or 0.16 per cent and the NSE Nifty was at 14,717.55, up 42.65 points or 0.30 per cent.
The broader markets are out-performing their largecap peers; the mid- and small-cap indices have gained 0.7 per cent and 1 per cent respectively.
Oil marketing companies are in the limelight as global oil prices are near a more-than-13-month high. Brent crude futures were up 28 cents, or 0.4 per cent, at $65.52 a barrel by 0102 GMT, while U.S. crude oil rose 14 cents, or 0.2 per cent, to $61.84 a barrel. ONGC is the top gainer on the Sensex, soaring 7.2 per cent to Rs 114.05. BPCL, GAIL and IOC have also gained 3-4 per cent each on the BSE.
Reliance Industries is trading at Rs 2,028, higher by 0.9 per cent after the company said it plans to get approvals to hive off its oil-to-chemicals business by September quarter of next fiscal year.
On the flipside, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Auto, Maruti Suzuki and Asian Paints are among the notable losers among BSE stocks, shedding up to 3 per cent each.
The market breadth remained positive as 1,649 shares were advancing while 1108 were declining on the BSE.
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