Markets at day's high; Banks lead gains

The key benchmark indices are trading near the day's highs, bolstered by bank shares

The key benchmark indices are trading at the highs of the day, bolstered by strength on the banking counters. The 30-share Sensex has gained 193 points at 22,537 and the 50-share Nifty has added 54 points at 6,749. The Bank Nifty has jumped by 333 points at 12,859. The broader markets are outperforming the benchmark indices, with the BSE midcap index strengthening by 1.4% at 7271 and small-cap index adding 1.9% at Rs 7424.

 

The strength witnessed across the Asian and European Streets would have triggered a rebound after a sluggish start to the day's proceedings. The European indices, including the CAC, DAX and FTSE, have jumped more than a per cent each in early trades. On the Asian front, all the indices are in the green with the exception of Nikkei index. The Japanese stocks stumbled 2.1 percent to a three-week low after the Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda raised doubts over whether the central bank will ease its policy stance anytime in the near future, which in turn catapulted the yen higher. Earlier, the US stocks had snapped their three-day losing streak. The S&P 500 up 0.38%, Nasdaq Composite was up 0.81% and Dow Jones Industrial ended up 0.06%.

 

 

Meanwhile, in economy-related developments, a news report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday had said that India’s economy is on its way to faster growth. In its latest report, IMF predicts that the Indian economy will expand 5.4% in 2014-15 and accelerate to a pace of 6.4% the following year.

 

On the space to watch out for, FOMC meeting minutes will be released on Wednesday evening. These are the meeting minutes of Yellen's first decision, in which a third taper of QE to USD 55 billion was announced and forward guidance was dropped. The markets will look for indications regarding the timing of a possible rate hike. 

 

Indian markets were closed on Tuesday on account of Ram Navmi.

 

Tata Motors, Sun Pharma and private banks have contributed the most to the Sensex's jump. Sun Pharma has soared by 6.8% to Rs 627.60 to lead the gainers charts on the BSE.  Hindalco has jumped by 4.3% to Rs 143 and Tata Motors has gained by 3.9% to Rs 419. In the banking space, Axis Bank, SBI and ICICI Bank have gained in the region of 2%-3% each. 

 

The IT sector is looking lacklustre, with TCS shedding 1.6% to Rs 2115 and Infosys slipping by 1.5% to Rs 3240.

The BSE market breadth is overwhelmingly positive. Out of a total of 2766 stocks, there are 1746 advancing stocks as against 911 declines.