Sensex range-bound in late-morning trade, Nifty above 10,900; oil stocks in demand

Mumbai: The benchmark Sensex drew back from its initial record highs to turn range bound in late morning deals, up by 112.27 points or 0.32 percent on buying in energy, capital goods, realty IT and auto sectors. Caution crept in ahead of quarterly result to be released later which include key names like Axis Bank and Asian Paints. Profit-booking was witnessed in telecom, metal, utilities and power segments which restricted the index gains. However, sustained foreign funds inflows, better than expected quarterly result in index heavyweight Reliance Industries sustaining the stock momentum. [caption id=“attachment_4293377” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] BSE building. Reuters.[/caption] The benchmark BSE Sensex trading higher 112.27 points or 0.32 percent to trade at 35,623.85 at 1140 hrs. Earlier it marked fresh all-time peak at 35,700.72. The broader Nifty trading above the key 10,900 level at 10,905.40, up by 10.70 points or 0.10 percent. It marked all time fresh peak at 10,929.85 earlier in the session. Major gainers were ONGC 4.03 percent, Reliance Industries 2.44 percent, TCS 1.58 percent, Yes Bank 1.41 percent and HDFC Bank 1.29 percent. Losers include Asian Paint 2.29 percent, Bharti Airtel 1.66 percent and ICICI 1.40 percent. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 988.25 crore on net basis while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) also bought equities to the tune of Rs 209.86 crore last Friday, provisional data showed. Most Asian markets were trading higher as investors kept an eye on political developments in the US after a government shutdown began last week. US stocks finished higher on last Friday, with both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq ending at records as optimism over corporate earnings outweighed the US government shutdown. Rupee trades down 4 paise vs US dollar The rupee was trading lower by 4 paise at 63.88 against the US dollar on some dollar demand by importers and banks amid recovering greenback overseas. The rupee opened lower at 63.88 per dollar as against last Friday’s closing level of 63.84 at the inter-bank foreign exchange here. Later it fell further to 64.00 on persistent dollar demand in morning trade, it was quoting at 63.88 per dollar at 1145 hrs. The US dollar regained some footing against a basket of currencies in early Asian trade, after slipping earlier on a US government shutdown.