Markets come off day highs

IT stocks remain top Sensex gainers

Benchmark share indices came off their day highs as investors booked profits at higher levels ahead of the Christmas holiday tomorrow and expiry of December derivative contracts on Thursday.

At 11:30 AM, the 30-share Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange which had touched an intra-day high of 19,347 was up 41 points at 19,282 while the 50-share Nifty of the National Stock Exchange was up 9 points at 5,857 after touching an intra-high of 5,872.

Stocks in Asia also witnessed thin trades ahead of the holiday season while growth worries in the US also weighed on investor sentiment in the region. China's Shanghai Composite was up 0.5%,  Hong Kong's Hang Seng and Singapore's Straits Times were up 0.2% each. Financial markets in Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines are closed on Monday for public holiday.

The sectoral indices on the BSE were led by the IT index up 1% followed by Healthcare, Realty and Auto and Consumer Durables among others.Oil and Gas and capital Goods indices were the top losers.

Among Sensex shares, software exporters were among the top gainers on the back of weak rupee which helps boosts revenue as major portion of their revenues come from exports to the US. Infosys was up 1.3%, Wipro gained 1% and TCS was up 0.7%.

HDFC, Hindustan Unilever and Bharti Airtel were up 1%. Sun Pharma was up 2% on completion of acquisition of DUSA Pharmaceuticals, Inc.U.S.A by its US subsidiary.

India's largest lender SBI shed some of its early gains but was up 0.4% on reports that the government has approved capital infusion of Rs 3,004 crore.

Among other shares, FDC soared 13% to Rs 100 on back of heavy volumes on report that the promoters of pharmaceutical company plan to sell majority of their stake in the company.

The broader market outperformed the benchmark indices with the BSE Mid-cap up 0.4% and the BSE Small-cap up 0.5%.

The market breadth on the BSE was strong with 1,315 stocks gaining and 1,014 declining.