Nifty at 5,900, FDI vote eyed

Metals and rate-sensitive sectors lead gains on BSE

The National Stock Exchange's Nifty index held key support level of 5,900 in late morning trades on hopes of growth recovery in Asia's third-biggest economy, however, investors were cautious ahead of key FDI vote in Parliament later today that will test the Congress-led UPA government's ability to push through key reforms.

At 11:25AM, the Bombay  Stock Exchange's Sensex rose 67 points to 19,415, while National Stock Exchange's Nifty-50 index gained 17 points to 5,906 in the late morning trades.

Investors were cautious ahead of the the outcome of Parliament voting on foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail in today's session after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's minority UPA government bowed to opposition pressure last week ending days of deadlock in Parliament.

Meanwhile, India's services Purchasing Managers' Index,  fell to 13-month low of 52.1 in November from October's 53.8,  data showed today.

Global risk appetite was firm after China's Communist Party’s new leaders said it would actively promote urbanization amid hopes of resolution in US budget talks.

The Hang Seng rose 1.5% to 22,124, Straits Times up 0.4% to 3,075, Nikkei gained 0.3% to 9,460 while Taiwan Weighted rose 0.56% to 7,644.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1.16% to 874.31 in Asian trades.

Back home, metals, real-estate, banks, capital goods indexes were leading gains while IT led declines on BSE.

Among key Sensex stocks, Hindalco Industries, Tata Steel and Sterlite Industries rose nearly 3% each in meatlc space while State Bank of India and HDFC Bank gained over 1% . Among laggards, Wipro,  Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services fell 0.3-1% and Bharti Airtel dropped nearly 1% in late morning trades.

Metal companies: Rose nearly 3% on reports of higher demand from China, the world's largest consumer of copper and aluminum. Sterlite Industries, Tata Steel, Sesa Goa and Hindalco Industries are trading higher by more than 2% each, while JSW Steel, SAIL and Jindal Steel and Power are up 1-2% on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices rose nearly 1% each.

The overall breadth is strong as 1,556 stocks have advanced while 904 stocks declined on the BSE.