Nifty has to sustain itself above today's low and also  4,860 for it to reach 5,040 and then to 5,100

The market settled higher as the rupee strengthened against the dollar and on firm cues from the global arena. The Nifty for the third day in a row made a higher high and higher low. The high of 4,995 and low of 4,931 on the index was the highest high and highest low since 10 May 2012. If the index is able to sustain itself above the support of 4,860, it touch 5,040 and then 5,100. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) saw a volume of 45 crore shares, the lowest since 5 March 2012.

The market witnessed a gap up opening on firm cues from its Asian peers, which were in the positive in morning trade on easing of worries that Greece might exit the Eurozone. The gains in the rupee against the US greenback also supported the sentiments. The Nifty opened 12 points up at 4,932 and the Sensex rose 72 points to resume trade at 16,290.

The indices touched their intraday lows in initial trade itself with the Nifty at 4,931 and the Sensex falling to 16,273. Brushing aside the initial hiccups, the market embarked on a northward journey in subsequent trade.

Meanwhile, oil minister S Jaipal Reddy informed reporters that the government was not considering hike in diesel, kerosene and domestic cooking gas at the moment. The minister made the announcement after a meeting called by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee to discus the impact of the fuel price hike on inflation. While the move is seen as an attempt to placate political parties, it is expected to increase the subsidy burden.

The optimism in the benchmarks, which were in the positive since the opening bell, saw all sectoral gauges trading in the green. The market pared a small part of its gains in the noon session, but across-the-board buying and a positive opening of the key European markets kept the indices on a higher trajectory.

The indices hit their intraday highs in the closing minutes of trade. At this point, the Nifty rose to 4,995 and the Sensex scaled 16,440.

The market closed marginally off the highs with the Nifty at 4,986, up 65 points and the Sensex gaining 199 points to settle at 16,417.

The advance-decline ratio on the NSE was 1103:566.

Among the broader markets, the BSE Mid-cap index closed with a gain of 1.21% and the BSE Small-cap settled 0.87% higher.

All sectoral indices closed in the positive. They were led by BSE Bankex (up 2.42%); BSE Power (up 2.33%); BSE Consumer Durables (up 2.20%), BSE Capital Goods (up 1.85%) and BSE Auto (up 1.74%).

The top Sensex gainers were State Bank of India (up 4.76%); BHEL (up 4.17%); Tata Power (up 3.81%); Hindalco Industries (up 2.82%) and Tata Motors (up 2.69%). The main losers on the index were GAIL India (down 2.62%); ONGC (down 1.26%); Maruti Suzuki (down 1.20%); Hindustan Unilever (down 0.82%) and Jindal Steel (down 0.50%).

The top performers on the Nifty were SBI (up 4.84%); BHEL (up 4.63%); Tata Power (up 4.20%); Punjab National Bank (up 3.84%) and Sesa Goa (up 3.75%). GAIL India (down 2.71%); BPCL (down 2.24%); Maruti Suzuki (down 1.39%); ONGC (down 1.23%) and Ranbaxy Laboratories (down 1.16%) were the key losers.

Markets in Asia, with the exception of the Jakarta Composite, closed on a positive note as Greek opinion polls showed voters favouring parties supporting the European Union’s bailout, easing concern the beleaguered nation will exit the currency bloc. On the other hand, a government economist was reported saying that the China’s economic growth in the second quarter would fall below 8%.

The Shanghai Composite surged 1.19%; the Hang Seng rose 0.47%; the KLSE Composite gained 0.25%; the Nikkei 225 added 0.15%; the Straits Times climbed 0.52% and the Taiwan Weighted was up 0.91%. The KOSPI Composite was closed for trade today.

At the time of writing, the key European markets were trading with gains of 0.44% to 0.84% and the US futures were in the positive.

Back home, foreign institutional investors were net sellers of stocks totalling Rs623.76 crore whereas domestic institutional investors were net buyers of shares amounting to Rs434.65 crore.

India’s third largest private sector lender Axis Bank today tied up with Bahrain’s Ahli United Bank for inward remittances. Under the tie-up, any person having an account with Ahli United Bank would be able to wire money to a bank account holder in India using the Internet banking platform, Axis Bank said in a release. The stock jumped 3.15% to close at Rs1,031.90 on the NSE.

Manganese Ore India (MOIL), the country’s largest manganese miner has received the board’s approval for project of sinking of high speed vertical shaft at its Balaghat Mine. The production is expected to increase from 450,000 tonnes per annum to 800,000 tonnes per annum, through the project. The production is expected to increase gradually from the year 2015-16. The stock rose 1.22% to close at Rs273 on the NSE.

Gujarat NRE Coke has entered into an option off-take agreement of over 10 years with Jindal Steel & Power, for a total annual off-take of 500,000 MTPA of Run of Mine (ROM) coal with the option for additional quality of 500,000 MTPA at benchmark linked price. Gujarat NRE gained 2.35% to close at Rs17.40 on the NSE.