Markets trade firm, Sensex up 120pts

The markets remained firm in late morning trades on back of positive cues from Asia and rally in financials and realty shares. The BSE Sensex is at 16,985, up 122 points and the Nifty is at 5,103, up 39 points.

Earlier in the day, the BSE benchmark index had touched a high of 17,042.

From the broader markets, the midcap and the smallcap indices were up 1% each.

The BSE Bankex has gained 1.8% at 11,250 and the BSE Realty has added 1.6% at 1,775. Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank and SBI, up 2-3%, are the top gainers among the Bankex stocks.

JP Associates has moved up 6% at Rs 70 on news reports that the company is in talks with Votorantim, Cemex for a minority stake sale. Other prominent gainers on the Sensex include Tata Power, SBI, Coal India and HDFC Bank, up 2-4% each.

The top losers among the Sensex 30 stocks are Infosys, Tata Motors, ITC, Maruti Suzuki and Hero MotoCorp, down 1% each.

BSE IT is the only laggard among the sectoral indices, down 0.2%.

Among the individual stocks, NTPC has gained 1.5% at Rs 163 after the state-run power producer announced plans to set up 500 MW coal based power plant in Sri Lanka, marking its foray into the overseas market. The plant, which is estimated to see an investment of up to $700 million, would come up at Sampur in Trincomalee.

Shree Renuka Sugars has surged 2% at Rs 61, on reports that it is talking to several private equity players and strategic investors to sell a 25% stake in its wholly-owned unit Renuka Brasil Holdings.

The overall market breadth is positive as 1,722 stocks have advanced against 679 declining ones.