Sensex closes 131 points up amid volatility

Mumbai: Indian equity benchmarks closed in the green following volatility in the market. At closing, Sensex was up 131 points or 0.17 per cent, at 77,341 and Nifty was up 36 points or 0.18 per cent, at 23,537.

The Nifty midcap 100 index rose 147 points or 0.27 per cent to 55,577. However, the Nifty smallcap 100 index fell 18 points or 0.10 per cent to 18,217.

Among the sectoral indices, FMCG, auto, Fin service, and consumption index were top gainers. PSU bank, metal, media and healthcare index were top laggards.

M&M, Power Grid, Sun Pharma, Nestle, UltraTech Cement, ICICI Bank and NTPC were the top gainers. IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, HCL Tech, Reliance and Axis Bank were the top losers.

Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst, LKP Securities said, "Nifty slipped lower in early trades, but bulls were able to defend around the 55 EMA on the hourly chart. The trend remains positive for the short term as long as it remains above 23,300, where a buy-on-dips strategy might favour traders."

"On the higher end, resistance is seen at 23,600. A decisive move above 23,600 might lead call writers to unwind their positions," he added.

There was a decline in the market at the start of the trading session. Sensex and Nifty opened with a fall of about half a per cent each.