 "Markets continue firm trades; financials gain")
Markets continue to edge higher in early noon trades on account of the gains in financials after the RBI eased cash and bond holding rules for banks on Tuesday.
At 1130 hrs, the Sensex was up 128 points at 18,374 and the Nifty advanced 44 points to trade at 5,445 levels.
In the broader markets, the mid and smallcap indices advanced 1% each, both outperforming the Sensex which gained 0.7%.
Meanwhile, Asian markets were mixed and came under renewed pressure on Wednesday as investors worried that minutes of the Federal Reserve's July policy meeting would only add to suspicions it will start scaling back stimulus from September.
The selling rippled across the region, nudging MSCI's index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan down 0.5% to a five-week trough. Korean shares shed 1% while the Shanghai market lost 0.2%.
Back home, among the sectoral indices, Health Care, FMCG, Metal and IT indices were in the red, down 0.1-1.4%. Meanwhile, Bankex surged 4% followed by Realty, Capital Goods, Consumer Durables, PSU, Power and Auto indices, all up 1-2%.
The top gainers among the Sensex-30 were BHEL up nearly 7% followed by banking majors - HDFC Bank, SBI, HDFC and ICICI Bank which added 3-5%.
Auto stocks like Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki, too were up 0.6-2.5%
ONGC, L&T, RIL and Tata Steel up 0.2-25 were the other notable gainers.
Among the ones in the red were Infosys, Sterlite and TCS down 2% each along with Sun Pharma, Coal India, ITC, Dr Reddys Lab, Bharti Airtel and Wipro down 0.9-1%.
The market breadth was very positive owing to the gains in broader markets. 1,195 stocks advanced while 624 stocks declined on the BSE.
At 1130 hrs, the Sensex was up 128 points at 18,374 and the Nifty advanced 44 points to trade at 5,445 levels.
In the broader markets, the mid and smallcap indices advanced 1% each, both outperforming the Sensex which gained 0.7%.
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The rupee remained under pressure with the currency quoting at 63.42 versus Tuesday's close of 63.25/26.
Meanwhile, Asian markets were mixed and came under renewed pressure on Wednesday as investors worried that minutes of the Federal Reserve's July policy meeting would only add to suspicions it will start scaling back stimulus from September.
The selling rippled across the region, nudging MSCI's index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan down 0.5% to a five-week trough. Korean shares shed 1% while the Shanghai market lost 0.2%.
Back home, among the sectoral indices, Health Care, FMCG, Metal and IT indices were in the red, down 0.1-1.4%. Meanwhile, Bankex surged 4% followed by Realty, Capital Goods, Consumer Durables, PSU, Power and Auto indices, all up 1-2%.
The top gainers among the Sensex-30 were BHEL up nearly 7% followed by banking majors - HDFC Bank, SBI, HDFC and ICICI Bank which added 3-5%.
Auto stocks like Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki, too were up 0.6-2.5%
ONGC, L&T, RIL and Tata Steel up 0.2-25 were the other notable gainers.
Among the ones in the red were Infosys, Sterlite and TCS down 2% each along with Sun Pharma, Coal India, ITC, Dr Reddys Lab, Bharti Airtel and Wipro down 0.9-1%.
The market breadth was very positive owing to the gains in broader markets. 1,195 stocks advanced while 624 stocks declined on the BSE.