The markets have just taken off from where they left in the previous trading session. The Sensex is quoting at 19280, higher by 72 points and the Nifty is at 5774, up 14 points. And as has been the case this week, there is underperformance on the broader market front; the midcap index is quoting at 8153, higher by 41 points and the smallcap index is at 10313, up 41 points.
The BSE benchmark had begun the week with a bang, touching 19k for the first time since January 2008, bolstered by a better-than-expected industrial production numbers in July and continued strength on the global front.
The leading gainers on the BSE are Infosys (strengthened by 1.6% at Rs 2985), Wipro (jumped 1.3% at Rs 408) and Sterlite (gained 1.2% at Rs 168). The banking sector is showing no signs of a let-up in the momentum. HDFC Bank has gained 1% at Rs 2306, HDFC has added 0.8% at Rs 670 and ICICI Bank has added 0.6% at Rs 1104. HDFC had gained 5.3% at Rs 664, ICICI Bank had added 4.4% at Rs 1097 and HDFC Bank had added 1.8% at Rs 2282 on Monday. SBI, is however, seeing mild profit-booking after touching a lifetime high in the last session. The bellwether banking stocks is quoting at Rs 3135, lower by 0.3%. And RIL has failed to build on the gains of the past two days. The index heavyweight is still shy of the 1000k mark, trading marginally higher by 0.5% at Rs 998.
On the loser's side, Hindustan Unilever has weakeaned by 1% at Rs 275 to emerge as the top loser on the BSE. ACC has shed 0.7% at Rs 982 and ITC has lost 0.6% at Rs 162.
The market breadth is positive. Out of 1706 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 1129 advancing stocks as against 506 declines.
