The markets continued in the positive zone in early noon deals, albiet off the day's highs. The BSE Sensex was at 18,307, up 110 points and the S&P CNX Nifty was at 5,518, up 36 points. The Sensex had touched a high of 18,440 in opening trades this morning.
The bourses are taking positive global cues from resurgent global markets as President Barack Obama announced a last-minute deal to raise the US borrowing limit and avoid a catastrophic default.
The Asian markets are witnessing mixed trades with the Shanghai Composite index at 2,700, down 0.1%, the Hang Seng at 22,785, up 1.5% and the Nikkei following closely at 9,965, up 1.3%.
HDFC has moved up the most on the Sensex at Rs 703, having added 2%. Other prominent gainers are Jaiprakash Associates, Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto and Infosys, up 2% each.
On the other hand are Jindal Steel, Sterlite Industries, BHEL, Cipla, Maruti Suzuki and TCS, having lost the most on the Sensex.
Among the sectoral indices, BSE Metal continues to reel under selling pressure at 13,781, down 1.7%. BSE FMCG is the next and only other sector that found itself in the negative at 4,090, down 0.1%.
The sectors witnessing a field day include BSE Realty, BSE Healthcare, BSE Teck and BSE IT, up 1% each.
In the broader markets, the BSE mid-cap index is almost unchanged at 6,915 while the small-cap index is at 8,301, having shed 0.1%.
The overall market breadth is negative with 1,423 stocks declining as against 1,234 advancing ones on the BSE.