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Markets remained firm in late morning deals but came off their day highs as profit taking in bank and auto shares capped further gains.
At 11:30AM, the Sensex was up 95 points at 19,420 after hitting an intra-day high of 19,486 and the 50-share Nifty was up 35 points at 5,857 after touching an intra-day high of 5,865 so far.
Index heavyweights Reliance Ind and Infosys were up nearly 1% each.
In the banking pack, SBI and HDFC Bank were up 0.6-1.8% while ICICI Bank was trading flat at 1,028.
Other Sensex gainers include, L&T, ITC and Sun Pharma.
Among other shares, Aptech has rallied 7% to Rs 62.50 on BSE after the company said it has received the shareholders approval for share buyback proposal through postal ballot.
Steel Strips Wheels has soared 14% to Rs 153 after the company said it has bagged European Patent for innovative design concept in semi-full face wheels.
The BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices were up 0.6% each.
Market breadth was strong with 1,137 gainers and 731 losers on the BSE.
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(Updated at 10:36AM)
Markets have come off their day highs after index heavyweights and financial shares trimmed some of their early gains amid profit taking at higher levels.
At 10:36AM, the 30-share Sensex was up 128 points at 19,452 after hitting an intra-day high of 19,486 and the 50-share Nifty was up 43 points at 5,855 after touching an intra-day high of 5,865 so far.
The Indian rupee opened stronger on Tuesday while bond yields dropped, following measures by the Reserve Bank of India and the market regulator to curb speculative trading in foreign exchange derivatives. The rupee was up 46 paise at 60.14 against the dollar in early trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market on increased selling of the US currency by banks amid hopes that the Reserve Bank will take more steps to stem the fall.
Asian markets were trading firm with Japan's Nikkei surging nearly 2% while Shanghai Composite, Straits Times and Hang Seng were up 0.3-0.6% each.
BSE Capital Goods index was the top gainer among sectoral indices on the BSE up 1.3% followed by Bankex, Consumer Durables, Power, Realty and Healthcare indices up 0.7-1% each.
Index heavyweights Reliance Ind and Infosys which were up over 1% each in early trades were trading at 0.7-0.9% each.
In the financials segment, HDFC and ICICI Bank also pared some of their early gains while HDFC Bank and SBI were up 1.2-1.5% each.
Among other shares, Educomp Solutions is locked in upper circuit of 10% at Rs 37.25 on BSE after the education company said it has initiated discussions with its lenders and has approached the Corporate Debt Restructuring (CDR) forum to restructure its rupee debt to correct the asset liability mismatch on its balance sheet.
Havells India has rallied 6% to Rs 794, also its record high on BSE, after the broking firms upgraded the stock with Buy rating. On Monday, Morgan Stanley initiates coverage of stock Havells India with an "overweight" rating and a price target of Rs 878 and added that it deserves to trade at a premium to its historical valuations given consistently high domestic earnings and return ratios, the Reuters report suggests.
In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap was up 0.7% and the BSE Small-cap index was up 0.8%.
Market breadth remained strong with 1,148 gainers and 487 losers on the BSE.
