Markets trade marginally higher

Markets are trading marginally higher. The Sensex has jumped 78 points at 17,482 and the Nifty has advanced 21 points at 5,317 levels. The markets have been witnessing choppy trades since morning.

According to Hormuz Maloo, Technical Analyst with Geojit BNP Paribas Securities, "he Nifty seems to have taken support at its 200 day moving average last week and bounced upwards strongly. The 200dma is currently around 5,148 levels. This remains a significant support level. On the upside, we have a small resistance at Friday's high of 5,307 points, which is also the 50 day moving average of the Nifty. There is a stronger resistance slightly higher at around 5,500 points."

The Asian markets were also trading on a subdued note. Hang Seng and Taiwan are trading marginally lower, while Nikkei and Shanghai have jumped marginally higher.

Back home, DLF is the top gainer among the Sensex stocks. the stock has advanced 3.3% to Rs 208. NTPC, Larsen & Toubro, BHEL, mahindra & Mahindra, State bank of India, TCS, Cipla, Bharti Airtel, HDFC and Tata Steel are also trading higher by nearly 1-2.4% each.

On the other hand, Bajaj Auto, Coal India, Sterlite Industries, HUL, Maruti Suzuki, and Reliance Industries are among the laggards.

Consumer durable stocks are witnessing buying in trades so far. The BSE Consumer Durables index has jumped, 3.6% or 231 points to 6,633. Realty, power, capital goods, banking, PSU, IT and FMCG stocks are also witnessing some buying.

At the same time, led by losses in the index heavyweight Reliance Industries, the Oil & Gas index is trading lower by 8 points at 8,079 levels.

Titan Industries is the top gainer among the consumer durable stocks. The stock has advanced 6.3% to Rs 243 on reports that the government allowed the company to import gold directly. The move would help the Tata Group firm in saving 1% of its operating cost and also it would get good quality gold.

Bajaj Electricals, TTK Prestige, VIP Industries, Whirlpool, C Mahendra Exports, Gitanjali Gems and Videocon Industries are also trading higher from this space.

Among the individual stocks, Bajaj Auto is trading lower by 2% at Rs 1,637 after the Sri Lankan government hiked import duty on vehicles to curb high import expenditure and the fuel bill.

Eicher Motors has rallied 8.4% to Rs 2,150, also its lifetime high, after VE Commercial Vehicles (VECV), a joint venture between the Volvo Group and Eicher Motors, announced a 20% rise in its total sales at 6,051 units in March, 2012. The company had sold total 5,065 units including trucks & buses during the same month a year ago.

The broader markets are outperforming the benchmark indices. The BSE mid-cap index is up 65 points at 6,411 and the small-cap index has advanced 93 points to 6,723 levels.

The overall breadth is extremely positive as 1,787 stocks are advancing while 733 are declining.