Markets extend gains led by heavyweights

Buying visible across the board

Markets have extended gains in the noon deals led by buying visible in the heavyweight pockets. The Sensex has jumped 207 points to 18,763 and the 50-share nifty has gained 60 points at 5,705 levels.

Meanwhile, the Asian markets were also trading on a positive note with returning risk appetite on Friday as overnight data suggested some stabilisation in the global recovery trend, particularly in the United States and China.

Positive US private sector employment and consumer confidence reports drove the dollar higher, while the yen retreated as demand for safe-haven assets weakened.

Back home, Bajaj Auto is the top Sensex gainer, the stocks has moved up nearly 3% near its 52-week high price at Rs 1,900. Larsen & Toubro, Hero MotoCOrp, Mahindra & Mahindra, GAIL India, ITC, Sterlite Industries, ICICI Bank, NTPC, TCS and State Bank of India are also up 1.5-2.5% each. While, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, HULand Reliance Industries are among the notable losers.

Buying is visible across the sectors. The BSE capital goods index is the top sectoral gainer. The index has advanced nearly2% or 206 points to 11,130 levels. IT, auto, teck, bankex, metal, FMCG, realty and PSU indices are also up around 1% each.

Among the individual stocks, Union Bank of India has surged over 6% at Rs 219 on reporting 57% year-on-year (yoy) jump in net profit at Rs 554 crore due to higher interest income and lower provisioning for bad loans. The state-owned bank had profit of Rs 353 crore in a year ago quarter.

CESC is trading higher by 3% at Rs 291 on reports that the company is planning to demerge its retail business, Spencer's Retail into separate listed entity.

“The RP-Sanjiv Group has decided to list Spencer's after demerging it from the group's flagship CESC," the Times of India report suggests.

The broader markets are also trading higher. The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices are up nearly 1% each.

The overall breadth is positive as 1,615 stocks are advancing while 999 are declining.