Sensex up 42 points on renewed buying

The benchmark BSE Sensex recovered by 42 points in morning trade on renewed buying in refinery and FMCG stocks amid persistent foreign capital inflows despite weak Asian cues.

The 30-share index resumed higher at 22,412.80 and firmed up further to 22,545.18 before quoting 22,446.31 at 1000 hours. It showed a gain of 42.42 points, or 0.19 per cent, from its last weekend's level.

It had lost 472.65 points, or 2.07 per cent, in the last five days. The NSE 50-share Nifty also moved up by 7.15 points, or 0.11 per cent, to 6,701.95 at 1000 hours. Major gainers were -- RIl (1.61 per cent), ITC (1.23 per cent), Hindalco (1.10 per cent), SBI (0.86 per cent), Gail India (0.86 per cent), ONGC (0.85 per cent), HDFC Bank (0.72 per cent) and Tata Steel (0.70 per cent).

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 386.95 crore on last Friday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges. Asian stocks fell in their early trade after a private gauge of Chinese manufacturing contract missed market estimates.

Key benchmark indices in China, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong declined in the range of 0.08 to 1.42 per cent. Markets in Japan and South Korea are closed today and tomorrow for holidays. US stocks eased on last Friday as concerns about more violence in Ukraine prompted profit-taking ahead of the weekend.