Nifty holds 8800, Midcap gains too; HDFC, RIL, ONGC lead

10:30am Moody's on India: Moody's Investors Service said that its assessment of India's credit ratings will be determined mainly by the extent of its fiscal reforms, not recent revisions to its economic growth data.

The comments come a day after rival Standard & Poor's said India must boost growth, cut its fiscal deficit and fulfil promises of financial and fiscal reforms in order to justify an upgrade in its credit rating.

The government on Saturday will present its fiscal budget for the new fiscal year starting in April amid high hopes that it will find a way to boost capital spending while exercising fiscal restraint.

"The upward revisions of India's GDP growth based on methodological and base year updates -- highlight the strength of the economy, but do not impact Moody's overall assessment of the sovereign's credit profile," the agency said.

"Rather, fiscal and structural reform policies will determine the extent to which accelerating growth will buttress the sovereign credit profile."

10:00am Market Check

The market continued to see buying interest with the Nifty holding 8800-mark supported by banking & financials, oil & gas and metals stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 167.87 points to 29172.53 and the 50-share NSE Nifty climbed 51.10 points to 8813.20. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained half a percent too.

About 1261 shares have advanced, 752 shares declined, and 176 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

Adrian Mowat, JP Morgan says India remains the highest net overweight market in emerging markets.

Shares of HDFC, Reliance Industries, ONGC, Mahindra & Mahindra and Sesa Sterlite topped the buying list, up 1.5-2 percent. Infosys, ICICI Bank and Tata Motors gained 1 percent each. However, ITC, L&T, Sun Pharma, HUL and Hero Motocorp saw marginal loss. More information please visit this site www.bigprofitbuzz.com