Markets glued to gains

The markets continue to trade on a strong note in the noon deals on back of buying visible across the sectors. The Sensex is up 260 points at 16,076 and the Nifty has added 76 points at 4,819. Earlier in the day, the markets witnessed a gap up opening on the back of positive global cues.

According to Ranak Merchant, technical analyst with Sushil Financial Services, "Nifty in today's session has rallied past the psychological barrier of 4,800 where it had formed multiple tops. A minor resistance is seen at 4,840 (spot), if the same is taken out on a closing basis in the next few sessions a rally extension till 4,950 can be expected."

Mahindra & Mahindra is the top gainer among the Sensex stocks, up 2.4% at Rs 675 on back of plans to double production capacity of its indigenously developed sports utility vehicle, the XUV500, to expand presence in European and Australian markets.

State Bank of India has also jumped 3.2% at Rs 1,690. BHEL, Hindalco, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, Larsen & Toubro, Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, HDFC, Maruti Suzuki, Sun Pharma, Hero MotoCorp and Bajaj Auto are also among the prominent gainers, up 1.6-3% each.

However, Tata Power and TCS are among the notable losers.

Among the individual shares, Wockhardt has moved higher by 4% at Rs 308 after the pharmaceutical company said that it has received final approval from the USFDA for marketing nasal spray of Fluticasone which is used in treatment of allergic rhinitis.

Shares of companies engaged in delivering education on information technology platform are in limelight on the bourses. Infinite Computer Solutions (India), Everonn Education and Aptech have rallied more than 10% each on the back of huge volumes.

Alfa Laval (India) has soared 14% to Rs 2,700, its historic high, after the company's promoter and parent company, Alfa Laval Corporate AB, Sweden raised the delisting price to Rs 2,850 per equity share.

Buying is visible across the board, realty, capital goods and banking stocks are among the top performers in trades thus far. BSE Realty index has advanced nearly 3% to 1,461 levels. Capiatl Goods and Bankex have also jumped 2.3% each. Metal, Auto, Oil & Gas, Power, PSU and Consumer Durable indices are also up 1.2-2% each.

D B Realty is the top gainer among the realty stocks, up 13% to Rs 61. Anant raj Industries, HDIL, Unitech, Phoenix Mills, DLF, Godrej Properties and Parsvanath Developers are also trading higher by 1.6-11% each.

Banking stocks are in limelight on back of media reports that with a stiff competition and a vigilant regulator, banks are inventing new ways for fees and charges to protect their margins. Canara Bank, Axis bank, Bank of India, Union Bank, Federal Bank and Yes bank have rallied 2.3-4% each.

The broader markets are also trading higher and have outperformed the benchmark indices. The BSE mid-cap index is up 1.7% at 5,425 levels and the small-cap index has jumped 2.3% to 5,972 levels.

The overall market breadth is extremely positive as 1,961 stocks are advancing while 605 stocks are declining.