Markets trade firm, Sensex up 110pts

Starting out strong, the markets continued to trade firm on the back of a rally in the global markets. The BSE Sensex is at 16,669, up 112 points and the S&P CNX Nifty is at 5,016, up 36 points. Earlier in the day, the BSE benchmark index touched the day's high at 16,774 and the day's low at 16,655.

In Asia, Japan's benchmark Nikkei average is up 2% at 8,777, the Hang Seng index has rallied over 3% at 18,288 and the Shanghai Composite is up 1% at 2,358, with financials and exporter shares leading the gains.

Among the sectoral indices, BSE Consumer Durables, Realty and Capital Goods indices are leading the gains, up nearly 2% each.

Rajesh Exports, Bajaj Electricals, Gitanjali Gems and Blue Star, up 2-5% each, are the prominent gainers from the Consumer Durables' space. Rajesh Exports has soared after the company secured an export order of branded gold jewellery worth Rs 621 crore from Excel Gold Smiths, Dubai.

BSE IT, Teck and Oil & Gas indices are the major losers on the sectoral front.

Bharti Airtel has moved nearly 4% at Rs 377 and is the major gainer on the Sensex. Other prominent gainers among the Sensex 30 stocks are Hindalco Industries, Jindal Steel, DLF and Tata Motors, up 2-% each. The losers from the pack are Infosys, ONGC, TCS, Wipro and Hindustan Unilever.

Among individual stocks, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is trading lower by 2% at Rs 268 in an otherwise firm market after the state-owned oil exploration and production company said that its net profit will drop by over 47% to below Rs 10,000 crore this fiscal if the government forces it to shell out higher fuel subsidy. It had reported a net profit of Rs 18,924 crore in the previous fiscal 2010-11.

State Bank of India (SBI) is trading higher by 1% at Rs 1,780 on reports that the government is discussing a follow-on public offer (FPO) of the bank’s shares, in addition to a rights issue, a move expected to shore up the bank’s Tier-I capital to above 8% for the current financial year.

Tata Steel has gained nearly 2% at Rs 441 in morning trades after having announced on Monday plans to invest GBP 2 million in its UK-based Hartlepool tube plant to build a facility for fabricating structures for wind turbines.

The overall market breadth is remarkably positive as 1,599 stocks have advanced against 715 declining ones, on the Bombay Stock Exchange.