Markets continue to hold on to their early gains with the Sensex up 81 points at 18,916 and the Nifty gained 30 points at 5,754 led by engineering major L&T and financial shares.
Earlier in the day, the markets started off on a cautious note but later took off after the announcment of President Obama winning the re-election.
In the broader markets, the midcap index advanced nearly 1% outperforming the smallcap and the Sensex which added between 0.5-0.7%.
Among the sectoral indices, Realty, Bankex, Health Care, Metal, Capital Goods and Auto indices advanced 1-2% in the morning trades. On the other hand, Oil & Gas and Fmcg slipped into the red, down 0.1-0.2%.
The top gainers among the Sensex-30 were SBI, DHFC, Jindal Steel, BHEL, Hindalco, ICICI Bank, Sterlite, Tata Steel, Dr Reddys Lab, Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors gained 1-2%
Tata Power, Hindustan Unilever, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries and ITC down 0.3-1% were the only losers among the Sensex-30.
In individual stocks, Cochin Minerals and Rutile rallied 9% to Rs 277, extending its 9% gain in past two trading sessions, after reporting over two-fold jump in net profit at Rs 20.96 crore in September 2012 quarter, on the back of higher sales. The company engaged in specialty chemicals business had a profit of Rs 8.22 crore in the same quarter last year..
Apollo Hospitals Enterprises has rallied 5% to Rs 856, extending its past two days 7% gain, on reports of the country’s leading hospital chain is planning expansion plan of Rs 2,000 crore.
Reliance Capital was trading higher by 3% at Rs 407 on reporting twelve-fold increase in its consolidated net profit at Rs 401 crore for the September quarter on back of one time gain on stake sale in its asset management company and growth in commercial finance business. The company had profit of Rs 33 crore in previous year quarter.
The market breadth was very positive. 1518 stocks advanced while 889 stocks declined on the BSE.