The markets have steadfastly held on to their gains this morning. The Sensex is now quoting at 17608, higher by 50 points and the Nifty is at 5272, up 12 points. The mid-cap and mall-cap indices have also gained nearly 1% each at 6774 and 8500 respectively.
It's auto stocks all the way. M&M has displaced Tata Motors to gain the No 1 spot. The Mahindra group stock has added 2.3% at Rs 1079. Hero Honda has strengthened by 2.2% at Rs 2067, Tata Motors has added 2.1% at Rs 740 and Maruti is up 2.1% at Rs 1401. And index heavyweight Reliance Industries has extended its gains and is now up 0.8% at Rs 1100.
On the losers side, Bharti Airtel has corrected 2.2% at Rs 306, Infosys has shed 0.7% at Rs 2783 and HDFC Bank has lost 0.2% at Rs 1920.
The market breadth is strong. Out of 2279 stocks traded on the BSE thus far, there are 1463 advancing stocks as against 748 declines.