 "Nifty above 6,100; Bank shares gain")
Benchmark indices gained momentum on Tuesday morning as financial heavyweights HDFC, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, and HDFC Bank increased by 1-2% each.
At 10:25 hours, the 30-share Sensex was up by 131 points at 20,595, while the Nifty-50 was up 41 points at 6,113.
Broader markets marginally underperformed the benchmark, with the BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap were increasing by 0.45-0.60% each, compared to Sensex's gain of 0.62%.
Breadth of the market was positive, with 1077 advances, 562 declines, and 91 scrips remaining unchanged.
The rupee is trading lower at 62.03/04 vs previous close of 61.84/85, tracking negative regional stocks and FX cues. "The upticks will be sold near 62.30. I am looking at a 61.70-62.30 range for the day," says a dealer with a forex firm.Asian Markets
Asian markets bounced back from day's lows to turn positive, with all major indices showing gains. Japan's Nikkei-225, made sharp gains 382 points, or 2.6%, to 14,775 as a strong pullback in the yen helped it rise for the second consecutive day. Singapore's Strait Times and Hong Kong's Hang Seng cut back on initial losses to stay relatively flat, gaining marginally by 0.01% each.
China's Shanghai Composite, however, was down almost 0.5% from two-month highs after the Chinese central bank said it would drain funds from money markets.
Sectors and Stocks
All sectoral indices were in the green, with S&P BSE Bankex leading the list of winners with gains of almost 1.5%. Auto, Healthcare, Metal, and Capital Goods were up by 0.4-0.7% as well.
Bharti Airtel was trading lower by 0.6%, at Rs. 303 levels, after the country's largest operator by subscriber base signed an agreement to acquire Mumbai based Loop Mobile for about Rs 700 crore. Sources say that Bharti would pay Rs 300 crore and take on Rs 400 crore of debt held by Loop.
Force Motors has zoomed almost 14% to Rs 340, extending its previous day’s 7% surge, after the company said its promoter has acquired nearly 5% stake in the company on Monday.
Hindustan Zinc has dipped about 2.5% at Rs 119 on reports that the government is unlikely to complete sale of minority stake in the company during the current fiscal which ends on March 31, 2014.