Markets edged higher in early noon deals on the back of buying interest in financial and auto shares. At 11.30 am, the BSE Sensex gained 86 points at 17,478 and the Nifty added 26 points at 5,301.
However, the broader markets outperformed the benchmark Sensex with the midcap and the smallcap indices up 0.6-0.7% each.
Meanwhile, Asian shares eased after Chinese import growth slowed sharply in June, underscoring weakness in domestic demand in the world's second-largest economy and adding to concerns about deteriorating global economic conditions. Taiwan Weighted down 1% was the top loser followed by Kospi Composite, Nikkei and hang Send down 0.1-0.8%
Back home, among the sectoral indices, Consumer Durables, Capital Goods and Auto indices gained 1% each. Buying interest was also visible in Bankex, Realty and Health Care counters which added between 0.6-0.8 %. However, FMCG turned flat with a negative bias, down 0.2%.
Among financial shares in the Sensex, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, SBI and HDFC were up between 1-1.5% each. Mortgage lender HDFC will announce its first quarter results on Wednesday. According to Bank of America Merrill Lynch report on India Inc's first quarter earnings has estimated headline profit growth for fiscal Q1 "is likely" to be to 13.7 percent, but 9.7 percent if excluding State Bank of India. BofA-ML says SBI, ICICI Bank , HDFC Bank , Infosys and Tata Motors are expected to be the key contributors of growth.
In the auto segment, Tata Motors was the top Sensex gainer after Ratan Tata, company’s chairman said that the Tata Motors is turning to China to buy auto parts unavailable in India as it seeks to offer vehicles with automatic transmission at home. Among other auto shares, Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto and Maruti Suzuki were all up around 1% each.
Infosys was up nearly 1% ahead of its results on Thursday.
However, NTPC, Tata Power, ITC and Hindustan Unilever down 0.3-0.6% were the top losers.
Among other stocks, Globus Spirits surged 13% to Rs 133, extending its past two days’ rally on the back of huge volumes.
The market breadth was positive on the BSE. 1439 stocks advanced while 896 stocks declined.