 "Nifty hovers around 7,700; Infy, Tata Motors dip")
Markets retained their morning gains on expectations of a pragmatic Budget. At 1200 hrs, the Sensex was up 234 points at 25,751 and the Nifty gained 65 points to trade at 7,700.
Jaitley's comments that a high fiscal deficit and inflation are major challenges for India added to expectations that he could unveil fiscal consolidation measures in the upcoming annual budget.
The broader markets were in line with the BSE benchmark index up nearly 1% each.
Health Care, Consumer Durables, Metal, Power, Realty, Capital goods and Bankex indices gained 1-1.5%.
The top gainers among Sensex-30 were Sesa Sterlite, Coal India, Sun Pharma, HDFC, Hero Motocorp, L&T, HDFC Bank, all up 1.5-3%.
Meanwhile, Infosys, Tata Motors, Gail India and Hindalco were marginally in red, down 0.1-0.2%.
In individual names, A2Z Maintenance & Engineering Services surged 5% to Rs 20 on BSE after the company bagged orders worth nearly Rs 2400 crores.
Sasken Communication Technologies was locked in upper circuit for second day in a row, up 20% at Rs 319 after winning an arbitration award of $31.7 million (about Rs 190 crore) from US-based Spreadtrum Communications Inc.
Mphasis surged 10% to Rs 463 in early morning deals on the National Stock Exchange on reports that Hewlett-Packard (HP) is planning to sell its stake in the Bangalore-based information technology services company.
The market breadth was positive on BSE. 1,703 stocks advanced while 1,002 stocks declined on BSE.
Jaitley's comments that a high fiscal deficit and inflation are major challenges for India added to expectations that he could unveil fiscal consolidation measures in the upcoming annual budget.
The broader markets were in line with the BSE benchmark index up nearly 1% each.
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Except the IT index which was down 0.1%, all the other sectoral indices were in green.
Health Care, Consumer Durables, Metal, Power, Realty, Capital goods and Bankex indices gained 1-1.5%.
The top gainers among Sensex-30 were Sesa Sterlite, Coal India, Sun Pharma, HDFC, Hero Motocorp, L&T, HDFC Bank, all up 1.5-3%.
Meanwhile, Infosys, Tata Motors, Gail India and Hindalco were marginally in red, down 0.1-0.2%.
In individual names, A2Z Maintenance & Engineering Services surged 5% to Rs 20 on BSE after the company bagged orders worth nearly Rs 2400 crores.
Sasken Communication Technologies was locked in upper circuit for second day in a row, up 20% at Rs 319 after winning an arbitration award of $31.7 million (about Rs 190 crore) from US-based Spreadtrum Communications Inc.
Mphasis surged 10% to Rs 463 in early morning deals on the National Stock Exchange on reports that Hewlett-Packard (HP) is planning to sell its stake in the Bangalore-based information technology services company.
The market breadth was positive on BSE. 1,703 stocks advanced while 1,002 stocks declined on BSE.