Key equity indices rise marginally on value buying

Mumbai, May 22 (IANS) Amid volatility, the key Indian equity indices traded marginally higher on Tuesday afternoon -- after declining in the last five trading sessions -- due to value buying by investors.

However, high crude oil prices and mixed cues from the Asian markets prevented further gains in the indices.

At 12.33 p.m., the broader Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) traded at 10,541.85 points -- up by 25.15 points or 0.24 per cent -- from its previous close of 10,516.70.

The barometer 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex), which had opened at 34,601.49 points, traded at 34,687.31 points (12.35 p.m.) -- higher by 71.18 points or 0.21 per cent -- from its previous session's close of 34,616.13 points.

The sensex has so far touched a high of 34,754.60 points and a low of 34,550.22 points during the intra-day trade. The BSE market breadth was slightly tilted towards the bulls with 1,278 advances against 1,126 declines.

So far, the major gainers on the BSE were Bajaj Auto, Dr Reddy's Lab, Coal India, NTPC and Bharti Airtel, while Asian Paints, Adani Ports, Tata Motors (DVR), Hindustan Unilever and State Bank of India (SBI) were the major losers.

On the NSE, the top gainers were Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Auto and Bajaj Finance. The major losers were Ultratech Cement, Bharti Infratel and Indian Oil Corp.