Markets continue firm trades

Realty and banking shares slip

Markets continued to trade firm this afternoon with the Sensex gaining 85 points to 19,408. Nifty was up 24 points at 5,894.

Asian markets were trading higher on Friday led by Japan's Nikkei on the back of weaker yen. The Shanghai Composite surged 1.24% at 2,233. Nikkei and Taiwan Weighted also added 0.7% each.

"Nifty was hovering near 5900 psychological mark in Decmember Series with around 150-160 points move and We feel that this consolidation phase is likley to continue in the absence of any directional trigger in the market," said Chetan Jain, Asst Manager, Derivatives Desk, (Retail Research), Anand Rathi.

BSE oil & gas index has surged 2% to 8,486. IT and PSU shares are also in green. However, some weakness can be seen in the realty and banking spaces which are down 0.2% each.

Auto stocks were mostly higher as auto companies will start unveiling December sales figures starting Tuesday. Maruti Suzuki is up 1.5% at Rs 1,503. Hero Motocorp is up 1% at Rs 1,890.

Reliance has jumped after company after market hours on Thursday denied media reports that RIL is buying Hotel Leela Venture's business park in Chennai. The stock is up 2% at Rs 836.

ONGC, Infosys and Sterlite are up 1-3% each.

On the other hand, Mahindra & Mahindra is down 0.6% at Rs 925. Jindal Steel, SBI and Sun Pharma are down 0.6% each.

Manaksia Limited has surged over 13% to Rs 57 after the company said its board approved the restructuring plans of the company.

Shares of public sector undertakings (PSU) oil marketing companies (OMCs) like BPCL, HPCL and IOC are trading higher by up to 4% on reports that the Government is looking at the option of increasing diesel and kerosene prices by Rs 10 per litre in phases.

BSE market breadth is positive. Out of 2,768 stocks traded, 1,467 shares have advanced while 1,155 shares have declined.