Sensex gains 37 pts on selective buying

The BSE benchmark Sensex recovered by nearly 37 points in early trade today on selective buying by funds and retailers.

The 30-share barometer, which had lost nearly 130 points in the previous session, rose by 36.99 points, or 0.21 per cent, to 17,410.83.

The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty also moved up by 11.90 points, or 0.22 per cent, to 5,302.75.

Brokers said emergence of buying by funds and retail investors at select index-related stocks helped Sensex to trade in the positive zone.

Stocks of RIL, country's most valued company, traded 0.44 per cent higher at Rs 734.65 despite it posted 21 per cent dip in fourth quarter earnings which was reported after the close of trading hours on Friday.

In the Asian region, Japan's Nikkei rose by 0.40 per cent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was being quoted 0.33 per cent lower in early trade.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.50 per cent higher in the previous session on Friday.

PRE OPEN: Indian Stocks to Watch

GLOBAL MARKETS ROUNDUP

* Asian shares and the euro steadied on Monday after the IMF secured new funding to prevent the contagion of the euro zone's debt crisis, with investors turning to Chinese data to gauge the market's resilience to risk.

*US stocks mostly rose on Friday, led by solid earnings from McDonald's, General Electric and Microsoft, but declines in banks and technology shares pulled indexes from their day's highs.

KEY EVENTS TO WATCH

* Tata Consultancy Services, India's largest software services exporter, will report fiscal fourth-quarter results.

Starmine estimates it will post a net profit of 28.21 billion rupees compared to consensus estimate of 29.03 billion rupees in the Jan-March quarter.

INDIAN STOCKS TO WATCH

* Indian energy conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd reported its second consecutive quarterly drop in profit, hurt by weak refining margins and declining gas output from its offshore fields on Friday. Net profit fell by 21.2 per cent to 42.36 billion rupees ($815 million).

... contd.

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