Nifty ends above 5,500

Markets ended on a strong note on Wednesday on the back of buying interest visble across the sectors amid positive global cues.

The 50-share Nifty ended above the crucial psychological level of 5,500. The index ended higher by 109 points at 5,525 and the BSE benchmark index- Sensex jumped 335 points to provisionally close at 18,184 levels.

Reliance Power, Axis Bank, J P Associates, Tata Motors and DLF were among the top Nifty gainers.
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(Updated at 1435 hours)

Indian stock markets are trading on a firm note in the late noon deals on the back of sustained buying visible across the sectors. The BSE benchmark index- Sensex has advanced 280 points or 1.6% to 18,127 levels and the 50 share Nifty is up 90 points at 5,505 levels.

The European markets have also opened higher in trades today. The DAX index is up 60 points or nearly 1% at 6,788 levels. CAC 40 is up 24 points at 3,399. However FTSE is marginaly in the red, down by a point at 5,898 levels.

The Asian markets ended the day on a positive note. Nikkei average rallied to a six-month closing high today after the Bank of Japan (BoJ) expanded its asset buying programme the previous day. The index ended higher by 208 points at 9,260. Hang Seng advanced over 2% or 447 points to 21,365, Taiwan and Shanghai also ended higher by 1.5% and 1% each respectively.
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(Updated at 12:54 PM)

Markets continue to trade on a strong note in the noon deals on the back of buying visible across the board. The Sensex has advanced 319 points to 18,168 levels and the Nifty continues to trade above the crucial psychological level of 5,500, up 100 points at 5,516 levels.

According to Somil Mehta, Senior Technical Analyst (Equity) at Sharekhan, "Short term and medium term bias remains positive and Nifty is expected to target 5650. Key support would be around 5300/5150 and resistance would be around 5500/5650."

Asian markets also ended the day on a positive note. Japan's Nikkei ended higher by 208 points at 9,260 levels. Hang Seng jumped 430 points to 21,347. Taiwan and Shanghai also advanced 1.5% and 0.7% each respectively.

Back home, Tata Motors is the top Sensex gainer, up 7.3% to Rs 287 on reporting 41% year-on-year (yoy) jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 3,405 crore for the quarter ended December 2011 on the back of better performance by British division Jaguar Land Rover (JLR). The company's consolidated revenues grew 44% at Rs 45,260 crore on y-o-y basis.

Larsen & Toubro, Mahindra & Mahindra, Sterlite Industries, DLF, Maruti Suzuki, BHEL, ICICI Bank, Gail India, Coal India, Hindalco, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, HDFC, State bank of India and Infosys are also trading higher by 1.6-4.4% each.

However, index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) is trading lower by 1.4% at Rs 837 in otherwise strong market in noon deals, on reports that the gas output from the company’s D6 block in the Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin may be 66% lower than the initial estimate from April. Hindustan Unilever is also facing some amount of selling pressure.

Interest sensitive sectors such as realty, auto, capital goods and banking stocks are on the investors radar on hopes that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may cut interest rates in March, after inflation rate based on the wholesale price index (WPI) fell to 6.55% in January, 2012, the lowest level in over two years. It was 7.47% in December, 2011, and 9.47% in January, 2011.

BSE Realty index is the top sectoral gainer, up 4% or 75 points to 2,009 levels. Auto index has also surged 3.9% or 387 points to 10,392 levels. Capital Goods and Bankex have also surged 3.4% and 2.1% each respectively.

Consumer Durables, power, metal, PSU and IT stocks are also witnessing buying in trades so far.

At the same time the BSE oil & gas index is the only sectoral loser led by losses in the heavyweight stock- Reliance Industries.

Unitech is the top gainer among the realty stocks, up 7% to Rs 32. HDIL, Parsvnath Developers, DLF, Anant raj Industries, Oberoi Realty, Prestige Estates, Sobha Developers and Godrej Properties are also trading higher.

From the capital goods space, Suzlon Energy, Lakshmi Machine Works, Punj Lloyd, Crompton Greaves, Havells India, Praj Industries, Thermax, ABB and Siemens India are among the gainers.

The broader markets are in line with the benchmark indices. The BSE mid-cap index is up 2% to 6,474 levels and the small-cap index is up 1.4% to 7,057 levels.

The overall breadth is positive as 1,814 stocks are advancing while 909 are declining.