Markets remain upbeat, metals sparkle 5%

Markets continue to maintain the sustained buying demand with Sensex and Nifty zooming by almost 3% each. The Sensex and the Nifty crossed 16,700 and 5,000-mark respectively in the opening trades.

The rally was owing to Central Banks (ECB, US Fed, BoE, Central Banks of Canada, Japan and Switzerland) liquidity move to get dollars at subsidised rates. China's cut of reserve ratio by 50 bps and better than expected economic data from US too helped the strong upmove. Asian stocks have gained between 2-5% each.

By 1130 hrs, the Sensex remained at 16,558 soaring by 435 points, and the broader Nifty index remained at 4,958 accelerating by 126 points.

The major leaders on the Sensex include Sterlite, Hindalco, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel and ITC. However, Bharti Airtel and Cipla are trading marginally in negative terrain.

On the sectoral front, BSE Metal index is leading the rally, sparkling by nearly 5%. Sectors like Banks, Realty, Auto, Consumer Durable, Capital Goods, Power, Oil & Gas, Technology and PSU have surged between 2-4%.

Amongst Metal segment, the main winners are Bhushan Steel, Coal India, Hindalco Inds, Hindustan Zinc, Jindal SAW, Jindal Steel, JSW Steel, NALCO, NMDC, SAIL, Sesa Goa, Sterlite Inds and Tata Steel, all shining between 1-7%.

Pharma major Ranbaxy Labs' which shot over 10% after US FDA approved company's generic Lipitor, has pared some gains and is now up around 4.5% at Rs 454.

Dr Reddy's Labs is trading weak as CBI issued notice to company's MD pertaining to Chandrababu Naidu assets case.

Media companies like Dish TV, Zee Entertainment and Balaji Telefilms have gained 3-7% each.

Meanwhile, Midcaps and Smallcaps maintain the steady movement with BSE Midcap index has ascending by 1.8% whereas BSE Smallcap index has rising by 1.4%.

The market breadth on the BSE remains strong with 1,709 shares advancing and 589 shares declining.