Sensex, Nifty consolidate; HUL up 2%, ONGC falls 2%

The market is consolidating with the Nifty hovering around 8750 levels. IT stocks support while banks continue to weigh. The Nifty is up 27.50 points at 8751.20 and the Sensex is up 115.24 points at 28998.35. About 1237 shares have advanced, 1028 shares declined, and 197 shares are unchanged.

Wipro, Axis Bank, HUL and Infosys are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Tata Power, ONGC, GAIL, M&M and Sesa Sterlite.

Globally, Asian markets are mixed. China is higher as the People's Bank of China reduced the reserve requirement by 50 bps, the first cut in 2 years. However, volatility in oil prices and worries about Greek debt after the European Central Bank banned the use of Greek government bonds as collateral weighs.

Nifty rise above 8800, Sensex flat; Axis & Wipro gain 3%

1:45 pm Market check: The market recovers a bit as the Nifty manages to rise above the 8800-level. The 50-share index is up 2.00 points at 8810.90. The Sensex is down 10.85 points at 29172.10.  About 1557 shares have advanced, 1163 shares declined, and 231 shares are unchanged.

Hindalco is up 4 percent while Axis Bank and Wipro gain 3 percent each. GAIL & L&T are up 1.5 percent.

1:30 pm FII View: Shane Lee Director, Economist & Strategist-Equity Research, CIMB says the expectations around India's growth is worrisome since the only way it can pick up is through investments, which at the moment looks sluggish.  Lee says he is overweight on financials and consumer discretionaries in India but  underweight on cement.  However, he says Indian equities may not repeat the tops achieved last year. He has kept a Nifty target of 5500 this year.

Speaking about US market, Lee said the US GDP numbers may force the Fed to push back its interest rate raising programme. However, a lot of capital flew into US bond market over the last few weeks.

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Profit booking continues on Dalal Street dragging the indices sharply. The Sensex is down 190.68 points or 0.6 percent at 28992.27. The Nifty slips 50.20 points or 0.6 percent at 8758.70. About 1504 shares have advanced, 1152 shares declined, and 242 shares are unchanged.

Bharti Airtel, Dr Reddy's Labs and ICICI Bank are down 3 percent while Bajaj Auto and HUL are other losers in the Sensex. Among the gainers are Hindalco, Wipro, GAIL, Sun Pharma and TCS.

Railway finances in 'deep trouble'

Pitching for increased investment into the Railways, he said Pension Fund could be one of the possible means of pumping in the money into the largest government transporter which is facing losses to the tune of thousands of crores.

He said the Railways can become an engine of growth in the coming years and contribute 2.5 percent to three per cent in the GDP with an improved infrastructure.

However, the Railway finances are in "deep trouble", the Minister said.

While underlining that railways requires huge investments to expand its network to provide physical connectivity, he said that 30 to 40,000 km of lines need to be expanded to carry more cargo besides people.

He regretted that India does not have the required institutions to invest in such sectors.