Markets on a firm ground

The markets continued to trade on a firm note in the noon deals. The Sensex was at 16,105, up 159 points and the Nifty at 4,815, up 38 points.

Earlier in the day, the BSE benchmark opened in the green and the Sensex touched the day's high at 16,152.

Tata Motors was the top gainer among the Sensex stocks, up nearly 6% at rs 170, J P Associates also surged 3.5% to Rs 63. Infosys, Hindalco, HDFC, BHEL, TCS, ICICI Bank, Cipla, Wipro and Reliance Industries also jumped 1.5-2.7% each.

On the other hand, Bharti Airtel was the top loser, down 3.3% to Rs 376. Tata Power, Hindustan Unilever, Bajaj Auto, Mahindra & Mahindra, ITC, ONGC and Hero MotoCorp were also among the laggards on  the benchmark index.;

Among the individual stocks Force Motors has zoomed to the 20% upper circuit at Rs 605 after the company decided to reduce stake in the Indo-German joint venture Man Force Trucks (MFTPL).

Sugar stocks are trading higher ahead of the meeting of the Empowered Group of Ministers on granting permission for sugar exports.

Shares of Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering Company are trading higher by 2.5% at Rs 58 after the company announced that it had roped in an international strategic investor.

All the sectoral indices barring BSE FMCG and Consumer Durables index were trading higher. BSE IT index was the top sectoral gainer, up 2.5% or 136 points at 5,614. Metal, Oil & Gas and Capital Goods which were beaten down badly in past few trading sessions witnessed some renewed buying interest. Metal index jumped 114 points to 10,187, Capital Goods and Oil & Gas indices also added over 1% each. Bankex, auto, healthcare, PSU, power and realty stocks also witnessed some bit of buying.

From the IT space, Mphasis, Wipro, HCL Tech, TCS, and Financial Technologies were among the top gainers. At the same time, Titan Industries was the top loser from the consumer durable stocks. VIP Industries, Gitanjali Gems, Blue Star and TTK Prestige were also trading in the red.

The broader markets were trading on a flat note. The BSE mid-cap index was up 8 points at 5,618 and the small-cap index added a point at 6,080 levels.

The overall breadth was neutral as 1,243 stocks were advancing while 1,252 were declining.