It has been almost a flawless session of trade thus far. While the markets had surged this morning on the back of a rebound on Wall Street, a stream of positive developments in terms of the easing food inflation, a firm European opening and continued strength across Asia has kept the momentum going. The Sensex is quoting at 17714, stronger by 243 points and the Nifty is at 5316, up 73 points in noon trades.
Meanwhile, the food price index rose 12.63% in the year to June 26 and the fuel price index climbed 18.02%. The pace of increase in food prices slowed from the previous week's annual rise of 12.92%, while fuel price inflation accelerated from last week's 12.90%.
The European markets have advanced for the third consecutive session, with the FTSE gaining more than a per cent at 5067, and the CAC and DAX adding betwen half a per cent and one percent each. And the Asian markets are up anywhere between 1% and 3% each.
Metal stocks continue to trade strong as the LMEX, a gauge of six metals traded on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.43% to 3,038 in London on Wednesday. Sterlite is the leading gainer on the BSE, having added 4.5% at Rs 166. Hindalco has gained 2.3% at Rs 145 and Tata Steel is up 2.2% at Rs 485.
And oil stocks have strengthened after crude oil prices surged nearly 3% on the New York Mercantile Exchange overnight. India's biggest state-run oil exploration firm by revenue Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has risen 1.7% to Rs 1288, while Indian Oil has gained 2.3% to Rs 397 and Cairn India advanced 2.2% to Rs 302. HPCL has added 3.2% at Rs 475 and BPCL is up 4.4% at Rs 688.
The only Sensex losers are Hindustan Unilever (weaker by 0.4% at Rs 265) and NTPC (down 0.2% at Rs 200).
The market breadth continues to be strong. Out of 2882 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 2029 advancing stocks as against 766 declines.