The markets closed the day with modest gain amid mild volatility after showing strong recovery in second half of session. Oil & gas, metal, capital goods and auto stocks were the movers while banking and pharma stocks draggers. Market breadth remained positive for major part of the day. The Sensex recovered nearly 200 points and the Nifty 70 points from day's low. The Sensex remained above 17000 and Nifty above 5000 mark.

Markets opened on a weak note and traded in red for first half of session due to weakness in Asian and US markets. But strong buying in oil & gas and metal stocks and good European cues have helped the markets in latter part of the day. 

The Sensex has touched an intraday high of 17,293.34 and low of 17,041.63 before ending the day at 17,243.16, up 12.98 points or 0.08%. The Nifty has hit a high/low of 5135.55 and 5048.70, which closed at 5117.65, up 12.7 points or 0.25%.

The BSE Midcap was up 0.59% at 7,148.05 as buying seen in Praj Industries, HMT, Orbit Corp, Firstsource Sol, Chambal Fert, Mercator Lines, Guj NRE Coke and GTL Infra, which gained 6-11%.

The BSE Small cap Index rose 1.51% at 8,788.98. Small cap stocks like Andhra Petro, Jayshree Tea, Supreme Petro, CCL Products, Gabriel India, BAG Films, Mcleod Rus, Navin Fluorine, Tamilnadu Petro, NELCO and Timex Group Ind gained over 10%.

Oil & Gas stocks were the star performers of the day. BSE Oil & Gas Index surged 2.36% or 263.19 points to settle at 11,432.80 as buying seen in RNRL, Essar Oil, Petronet LNG, Reliance, BPCL and HPCL. The Nymex July Crude hit new high of USD 130.28 per barrel.

Metal stocks shined in late trade. BSE Metal Index shot up by 1.24% or 213.31 points at 17,390.28 as gain in Guj NRE Coke, NALCO, Tata Steel, Hind Zinc, Ispat Industries, Jindal Saw and Jindal Steel.

Capital Goods stocks like Kirloskar Bros, Praj Industries, Rel Ind Infra, Alstom Projects, Punj Lloyd, Areva T&D and BHEL looked strong. Capital Goods Index closed at 13,670.08, up 0.79% or 106.60 points.

Auto Index went up 0.40% at 4,782.90 as stocks like Escorts, MRF, M&M, Apollo Tyres, Tata Motors, Hind Motors and Amtek Auto climbed.

However, banking stocks underperformed the markets. BSE Bankex lost 1.41% or 123.95 points to settle at 8,639.90 due to selling in HDFC Bank, Union Bank, Kotak Mahindra, Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Centurion Bank and PNB.

Pharma stocks like Glenmark, Sterling Bio, Cipla, Nicholas Piramal, Sun Pharma, Aurobindo Pharm and Ranbaxy Labs also witnessed selling pressure. Healthcare Index finished at 4,245.69, down 0.57%.

IT Index lost 0.31% at 4,453.35 as technology stocks like Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Satyam and Wipro lost ground. The Indian Rupee was trading at 42.76 per dollar.

Asian markets were trading sharply lower. Shanghai Composite was down 1.87% or 64.33 points at 3,378.83. Hang Seng fell 158.77 points or 0.63% at 25,010.69.

Nikkei 225 Average was down 259.25 points or 1.83% at 13,900.84. Jakarta Composite fell 27.46 points or 1.09% at 2,483.50. Straits Times fell 0.8% or 25.69 points at 3,174.19. Seoul Composite slipped 18.12 points or 0.97% at 1,855.03. Taiwan Weighted lost 15.65 points or 0.17% at 9,053.24.