The markets are trading in the green, in line with their Asian counterparts. The Sensex did cross the 18k mark in opening trades, hitting a high of 18008, but was unable to sustain those levels. The benchmark is now quoting at 17983, stronger by 41 points and the Nifty is at 4380, higher by 14 points. The mid-cap and small-cap indices are 0.7% higher at 7064 and 8992 respectively.
On the global front, the US indices ended the session on a flat note. The Dow closed lower by three points and Nasdaq ended higher by seven points. And the Asian markets have opened in the green, with the Hang Seng stronger by 239 points and Nikkei adding 38 points in early trades.
The leading gainers on the BSE are Tata Power (strengthened by 0.9% at Rs 1383), M&M (rose 0.8% at Rs 538) and ICICI Bank (up 0.8% at Rs 1006). Reliance Communications, Grasim and Hindalco are the other major gainers. And index heavyweight, RIL has moved up 0.5% at Rs 1126.
Continuing its recent run, realty is again the leading sectoral gainer on the BSE. Sobha Developers, HDIL and DLF are trading higher by more than 1% each.
The Sensex losers are Sun Pharma (weakened by 1.4% at Rs 1795), Infosys (shed 0.7% at Rs 2629) and TCS (lost 0.6% at Rs 789).
And the IT sector continues to lag behind, given that the rupee is trading at 18-month highs. Information technology heavyweights such as Infosys, TCS and Wipro are down up to 1% each.
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The market breadth is positive. Out of 1556 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 1199 advancing stocks as against 323 declines.