Markets continue firm trades

IT, auto shares lead rally

Markets continued to trade in the green with buying interest visible in IT, auto and realty shares. The Sensex is up 83 points at 17,774. Nifty has advanced 21 points at 5,387.

Meanwhile, the government has announced that the July CPI stands at 9.86% y-o-y. The country's annual consumer price inflation slowed slightly in July helped by a drop in petrol prices at the pump, government data showed on Tuesday, but a drought in parts of the country pushed food prices higher.

Asian markets continued to trade in the positive zone with Shanghai Composite and Taiwan Weighted leading the rally. Kospi and Straits Times are up marginally as well.

The rupee rose by 24 paise to trade at 55.49 against the American currency in early trade today at the Interbank Foreign Exchange on continued dollar selling by exporters and some banks.

BSE IT index has jumped 1.7% at 5,711. Auto, oil & gas, realty and power indices have advanced 0.2-1.4% each. However, weakness can be seen in metal indices which has dropped 0.6% at 10,266.

Infosys has jumped 2.6% to Rs 2,412 after a U.S court dismissed harassment charges filed by a U.S. employee, ending worries about a case that had recently pressured shares of the software service exporter.

Cipla, HDFC and Tata Motors have added 2-2.5% each. tata Motors has extended Friday's 2.12% gains triggered by the company reporting strong global sales in July 2012.  Reliance has advanced 0.5%, followed by Maruti Suzuki. Tata Power is up 0.4% at Rs 98 after the company said it has successfully completed an offering of 60-year debentures of Rs 1500 crore.

However, Hindalco has slipped 2.5% to Rs 111 on reports that the Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OPSCB) has asked the company to shut down the captive power plant (CCP) of smelter plant near Hirakud in western Odisha in the wake of a breach in the company's ash pond that damaged standing crops in the locality.

Tata Steel, Coal India, Hero MotoCorp and HDFC Bank are down around 1% each.

BSE market breadth was fairly positive. Out of 2,456 shares traded, 1,290 shares have advanced while 1,050 shares have declined so far.