 "Markets firm up on shortcovering in financials")
At 1:25PM the 30-share Sensex was up 122 points at 18,787 and the 50-share Nifty was up 44 points at 5,563.
Asian stocks rebounded and investors snapped up the Australian dollar after better-than-expected trade data from China, but Japanese shares came under selling pressure to end at a six-week closing low. The Nikkei ended down 1.6%, while Shanghai Composite was trading flat. Hang Seng and Straits Times were trading with marginal gains.
European share opened with marginal gains. The Bank of England yesterday said that it would not hike interest rates until unemployment fell to 7%, from 7.8% in June, which it said could take three years. The CAC and DAX were trading flat while FTSE was trading with marginal gains.
Meanwhile, the Indian rupee continued to remain firm against the US dollar. The local currency was up 23 paise at 61.07 against the dollar in noon trade on selling of the US currency by banks and exporters amidst volatile equity market.
The BSE Realty index was the top gainer among the sectoral indices on the BSE, up 2.3% followed by Metal, Auto, Bankex, Power and Consumer Durables indices.
HDFC and HDFC Bank were among the top Sensex gainers up 2.1-2.5% each followed by Mah & Mah, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, ITC.
Tata Consultancy Services was up nearly 1% after the it announced the successful deployment of its core banking solution from TCS BaNCS at Panzhihua (PZH) Commercial Bank, China, in a record time of ten months.
Reliance Industries was among the top Sensex losers. Sun Pharma was down 2.7% after its Israel subsidiary Taro Pharmaceutical Industries has reported a 6.5% year-on-year drop in its net profit for the quarter ended June 30, 2013 (Q1).
Ranbaxy Labs was the top performer among index stocks after it surged 13% to Rs 320 despite the lower-than-expected second quarter earnings. Meanwhile, Angel Broking has a 'buy' call on the stock on the back of attractive valuations.
DLF has firmed up 6% on reports that the real estate developer is looking to sell its under-construction IT special economic zone (SEZ) project in Pune, Maharashtra to for an anticipated Rs 250 crore.
In the broader markets, the BSE Mid-cap index and Small-cap index were up 1% each.
Market breadth was strong with 1,237 gainers and 819 losers on the BSE.