Markets end in green on Diwali

Sensex ends (provisional) at 17276 - up 21 points. Nifty ends up eight points at 5,200.
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(Updated at 1732 hrs)

Markets continue to move sideways. The Sensex is up 48 points at 17,303. Nifty is up 13 points at 5,204.

Broader markets have outperformed the benchmark today. BSE mid-cap index has gained 1% to 6,183. Small-cap index has also moved up 1.2% to 6,886

Among the other stocks, Sesa Goa has dipped 2.3% to Rs 204 after reporting a 99% year-on-year (y-o-y) decline in its consolidated net profit at Rs 1 crore for the quarter ended September 2011 as against Rs 388 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Net sales grew 14% to Rs 790 crore on y-o-y basis.

Nitin Fire Protection has zoomed 10% to Rs 42.50 on back of three-fold jump in trading volumes. Engineers India is trading higher by 3% at Rs 242 after reporting a 22% year-on-year (y-o-y) jump in net profit at Rs 147 crore for the quarter ended September 2011, as against Rs 120 crore in the year ago period.

Indian Hotels is up 1% at Rs 69 ahead of its results on Friday which is the next trading day.

Among Sensex stocks, Larsen & Toubro is the biggets contributor. The stock has moved up 1.2% at Rs 1,353, recovering after recent slide post results last week. State Bank of India and HDFC Bank are also in the green.

Meanwhile, IT majors Wipro and Infosys have dropped 1% each in trades, followed by Mahindra & Mahindra.
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(Updated at 1647 hrs)

Markets have opened positive on Mahurat trading day, extending Tuesday's smart gains. Sensex has gained 75 points at 17,328. Nifty is up 22 points at 5,213.

Globally markets continue to hold ground ahead of the key EU summit. US stocks are set to open marginally higher on hopes that the leaders will finally come closer to a solution for the debt-crisis. On Tuesday, the Dow ended down 1.7% at 11,706. Nasdaq slipped 2.2% to 2,638.

European bourses are trading flat after hopes. The CAC has gained three points while the DAX is down three points. FTSE is up marginally at 5,528. Analysts in Europe doubt that the meeting will not bring forward a lasting plan to ease the sovereign debt crisis in the euro zone.

BSE PSU Index has gained smartly to 7,434. Healthcare, consumer durables and capital goods indices have advanced 0.7% each.

Banking shares, after its fall yesterday, has recovered. The banex had fallen sharply after RBI's monetary policy where the central bank had deregulated savings rate. Other rate sensitives have also advanced. However, IT shares have witnessed some weakness with the BSE IT index down 0.3% at 5,764.

The BSE bankex is now up 0.6% at 10,989. Indusind Bank has surged 2.3%, followed by Punjab National Bank, SBI, Federal Bank of Commerce and Bank of India. Meanwhile, havyweight ICICI Bank has dropped marginally to Rs 877.

From the auto space, Mahindra & Mahindra is leading the gains. Wipro, Sterlite and Sun Pharma have added 3-4% each. Reliance, Infosys, HDFC and Larsen & Toubro have contributed the most to the Sensex's upmove.

On the other hand, PSU shares are weak. BHEL, Coal India and ONGC have dropped marginally in trades.

The BSE market breadth is positive with 75% stocks on the advancing side and 20% on the declining side.