The markets have extended their early morning gains on the back of strength in energy, power and IT stocks. The Sensex is quoting at 16,958, up 266 points, and the Nifty has regained the 5k mark at 5067, up 81 points.
The positive global cues have rubbed on to the Indian bourses.
The US stocks rose as home sales in November surged at the fastest rate since February 2007, indicating stabilization in the housing sector. The Dow Jones ended at 10,464, stronger by 50 points, Nasdaq closed at 2,252, higher by 15 points and the S&P 500 touched another 14-month high to close at 1,118, up three points.
And the Asian markets are currently trading mixed, albeit with a positive bias.
NTPC (stronger by Rs 9 or 4.5% at Rs 224), Sterlite (higher by Rs 15 or 1.9% at Rs 822) and ICICI Bank (up Rs 16 or 1.9% at Rs 842) are the leading gainers on the Sensex.
Infosys, Reliance and Tata Steel have gained between 1% and 2% each.
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On the losers side, ITC and Bharti Airtel have weakened by nearly Rs 1 at Rs 246 and Rs 321 respectively.
The market breadth is strong. Out of 2395 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 1762 advancing stocks as against 563 declines.
Tata Steel tops the value charts with a total turnover of Rs 48.08 crore. It is followed by Reliance (Rs 44.21 crore), Suzlon (Rs 34.83 crore), Sail (Rs 25.58 crore) and NTPC (Rs 25.09 crore).
Suzlon leads the volume charts with trades of 9.74 million shares. It is followed by Unitech (6.85 million), Ispat (6.42 million), IFCI (5.90 million) and Sail (2.98 million).