 "Firm trend continues; Sensex, Nifty gain 2%")
Bulls are in firm control of the markets as sustained buying is seen in banking, auto, oil&gas, and metal stocks.
At 2:30pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 461 points at 24,423 and the Nifty50 was up 144 points at 7,420.
The world stocks rallied today on hopes that stimulus would be injected by the European Central bank, which hinted that more easing could be coming within months. After the relentless fall in the crude oil, the bounce in crude oil prices has provided the much sought after relief.
The top gainers on the Sensex are Gail(India), M&M, Maruti Suzuki, SBI, Hero Motocorp, all up between 4-8% each.
However, Bharti Airtel continues to trade weak in a firm market as it has dropped by nearly 4%. HUL and Wipro have also slipped by 0.5% each.
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(updated 1pm)
Markets continue their rally in the late noon trades buoyed by the firmness in Asian equities that rallied after the jump in crude oil prices and more hints of a stimulus injection by the European Central Bank.
At 1pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 430 points at 24,392 and the Nifty50 was up 135 points at 7,411.
In the commodity space, oil prices jumped over 4% to $29.5/barrel- its biggest one day gain after months of turmoil- after data showed stockpiles at some U.S. sites did not grow as much as forecast.
The rupee appreciated further from early gains, up 30 paise to quote at 67.72 against the US currency in late morning deals on continued bouts of selling from banks and exporters amid higher local equities.
On the global front, the Asian markets bounced back thanks to hints of more monetary policy support by the European Central Bank and a rally in crude oil from 12-year low.
Japan's Nikkei .N225 surged 5.9% at the close, the most in more than four months, moving away from a 15-month low struck Thursday. It was boosted by speculation that the Bank of Japan would opt for additional stimulus at its Jan. 28-29 policy meeting
The ECB managed to contain some of the pessimism for the time being after ECB President Mario Draghi hinted strongly on Thursday that more easing could be coming within months. Fading growth and inflation prospects will force the central bank to review its policy stance in March, Draghi said
European could extend the gains from yesterday and open higher following Asian markets.
RESULTS CORNER
Reliance Communication, ITC, and Cairn India are among the notable companies that would announce their Q3 results later in the day.
KEY STOCKS
Shares of public sector banks (PSBs) have rallied by up to 7% on the bourses after the benchmark indices gained more than 1% as investors remained positive about more stimulus from the European Central Bank (ECB).
Index heavyweight RIL was up 1.6%. Reports suggest that Reliance Industries is planning to begin production from its coal-bed methane (CBM) blocks in the next three months.
Engineering major L&T was up 2.3% its construction division won Rs. 1213 crore order for the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor Project.
FMCG major ITC has gained 1.1% ahead of its Q3 results.
According to media reports, Jaguar Land Rover emerged as UK’s largest car maker thus giving boost to Tata Motors’ fortunes. The stock has gained 3.5%.
Idea Cellular was down 3.4% after the company lower-than-expected earnings. The company reported a 0.4 per cent year-on-year decline in its December quarter consolidated net profit at Rs 764.2 crore. This was lower than the Bloomberg consensus estimates of Rs 796 crore.
Shares of aviation companies were under pressure dropping over 10% on the bourses in an otherwise firm market as oil prices rebounded over $1 a barrel from 12-year lows on Thursday, their biggest daily gain this year.
InterGlobe Aviation, the owner of India’s largest airline IndiGo, has tanked nearly 20% to Rs 972 on the BSE. The stock recorded its biggest intra-day fall since its listing in November last year.
With Reuters input
