Nifty struggles to break 7600 mark

The NSE 50 and BSE 30 shares witnessed good amount of strength on the first day of the third week of March. Banking and Auto have done well and ended in the positive by 138 points and 103 points respectively. The Nifty ended up by 28 points at 7538; and Sensex closed 86 points higher at 24804. The indices ended higher around 0.35 percent each.

The advance-decline ratio ended on a negative note. On the NSE, 1318 shares closed in green; and 1331 shares ended in red.

Top 5 Nifty Gainers: ICICI Bank closed the day as the highest gainer, up by 3.6%. Tata Motors, Cairn India, Tech Mahindra and BHEL were among the others that closed higher.

Top 5 Nifty Losers: Coal India closed lower by 6.9% today, followed by Kotak Mahindra, Idea Cellular, M&M and Sun Pharma.

10 out of the 13 sectors ended in the green. Bankex was the top gainer, up by 138 points. Auto and FMCG ended the day higher by  138 points and 52 points respectively. Mid-Caps and Small-Caps also gained 31 points and 42 points respectively. However Metals and Consumer Durables closed on a negative mark, down by 152 points and 26 points.  

The Asian markets closed on a mixed note. The Hang Seng ended higher by 235 points and Straits Times and KOSPI were also in positives. Nikkei and Shanghai Composite also were the strongest gainer, closing up by 294 points and 49 points respectively.  

Buzzers: Coal India ended down by 6 points and made low of Rs 292. If it opens below 300 mark, it may see a more painful scenario.

The Nifty Futures has not only crossed its first hurdle of 7500 but also managed to close above this level, indicating some positive sentiment for the next trading session.