Markets gain momentum

Markets have extended gains in the noon deals after Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said that there will be no tax liability on P-Notes. The buying is visible across the board, the Sensex has jumped 295 points to 17,353 levels and the Nifty has advanced 93 points to 5,272 levels.

Mukherjee said the government's intention is not to harass genuine investors. He added that the I-T department will examine tax liabilities of the FIIs. FIIs have had concerns over tax liabilities post Finance Bill.

According to Shailesh Kadam, AVP (Institutional Derivatives) with PINC Research, "Nifty has been trading below 5,200 level for few trading session. If Nifty continues to trade below 5,200 level for couple of trading sessions then Nifty may test 5,000-5,050 level. Nifty is likely to take support at 5150 level."

The other Asian markets were trading on a mixed note. Hang Seng was down 90 points at 20,519, Nikkei slipped 31 points to 10,083. While, Taiwan and Shanghai weere trading higher.

Back home, Hindalco is the top gainer from among the Sensex stocks, up 4.2% to Rs 130. Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, Gail India, BHEL, Tata Power, Infosys, Coal India, Reliance Industries, Sterlite Industries, Larsen & Toubro, DLF, Mahindra & Mahindra and HDFC are also trading higher by nearly 2-3.5% each.

On the other hand, Sun Pharma and Cipla are among the laggards.

Metal and  banking stocks are witnessing renewed buying interest in trades today. The BSE Metal index is the top sectyoral gainer, up 2.5% or 273 points to 11,333. Bhushan Steel, SAIL, Sesa Goa, JSW Steel, NMDC, Hindustan Zinc and Jindal Steel are among the top gainers from this space.

BSE banking index- Bankex has advanced 241 points to 11,700 levels. Indusind Bank is the top gainer from this space, up 3.5% to Rs 318. IDBI Bank, Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Union Bank, Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank, HDFC Bank, SBI and Kotak Mahindra Bank are also trading higher by 2-3.2% each.

PSU, Oil & Gas, IT, Capital Goods, Power, Auto, Consumer Durables, FMCG and Healthcare indices are also among the sectoral gainers, up 1-2% each.

Among the individual stocks, Alchemist has locked upper circuit of 10% at Rs 70.15, on second consecutive day, after the company said it has allotted 640,000 shares of the company at huge premium of Rs 215 per share on the preferential basis.

Dhanlaxmi Bank has galloped 18% to Rs 58.50 on back of six-fold jump in trading volumes. As many as 5.99 million shares have already changed hands on the counter so far, against an average sub one million shares that were traded daily in past ten trading days on the NSE and BSE.

The broader markets are trading on a firm note. The BSE mid-cap index is up 100 points at 6,301 and the small-cap index has jumped 91 points to 6,588 levels.

The overall breadth is extremely positive as 1,734 stocks are advancing while 822 stocks are declining.