The markets continued to tread in positive territory post-noon. The Sensex was at 18,014 up 175 points, while the Nifty was at 5,419 up 54 points.
Sensex gainers were led by DLF at Rs 229 up 4%, followed by Maruti Suzuki at Rs 1,162 up 3% and Bharti Airtel at Rs 324 up 2%.
Realty stocks were leading the gains on the sectoral chart up 2% at 2,078, followed by the Auto index at 8,577 and the PSU index both up 1%. The IT index, although the laggard on the sectoral chart, was up 0.6%.
Major gainers on the Realty chart were Parsvnath Developers at Rs 39 up 4%, DLF at Rs 229 and Mahindra Lifespace at Rs 362 both up 3%.
The mid-cap index was in line with the benchmark up 1% at 6,554, while the Small-cap was up 0.7% at 7,827.
With 1,603 advances and 1,056 declines, the market breadth remained fairly positive.
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(Updated at 1130 hrs)
Markets continued to trade on a strong note on back of positive global cues. The Sensex added 183 points to 18,023 and the Nifty was at 5421 up 57 points.
The Asian markets continued to trade higher the Nikkei225 zoomed 4% or 367 points to 9574, Hang Seng was higher by 52 points to 22,73 and Taiwan added 58 points to 8526.
Back home, J P Associates continued to remain the top gainer on the Sensex, the stock added 2.35% to Rs 85, DLF, Maruti Suzuki, Bharti Airtel, Cipla, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and Reliance Industries were also trading higher by around 1% each. Meanwhile ICICI Bank was the only loser on the Sensex.
All the sectoral indices continued to trade higher, the BSE Auto index was the top sectoral gainer, the index was higher by 1.5% or 127 points to 8589, PSU index added 111 points to 8584 and the Realty index was also trading higher by 1.2% to 2060. Metal, Healthcare, Oil & Gas, Consumer Durables and Capital Goods indices were also trading higher by around 1% each.
Amtek Auto was the top gainer among the auto stocks, the stock jumped 4% to Rs 139 followed by Apollo Tyres, Maruti Suzuki, Ashok Leyland, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Cummins India and Bharat Forge, up 1-3% each.
Among the PSU stocks Neyveli Lignite continued to remain the top gainer, the stock zoomed 6% to Rs 104, followed by Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation, Coal India, HMT, SAIL, Andhra Bank and Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals.
The broader markets outperformed the benchmark indices, the mid-cap index jumped 1% or 68 points to 6560 and the small-cap index added 66 points to 7841.
The sugar stocks continued the upmove, as the EGoM headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee would decide on the issue of increasing the exports
Dwarikesh Sugar was the top gainer among the sugar stocks, the stock was zoomed 10.5% to Rs 74, Sharni Sugars added 7.5% to Rs 34. Oudh Sugar Mills, Ugar Sugar Works, Dhampur Sugar, Sakthi Sugars and Rajshree Sugars were also trading higher by around 5% each.
The overall market breadth remained extremely positive as 1583 stocks advanced while 795 stocks declined.