Markets hold ground, Sensex up 170pts

The markets are trading firm in the noon trades, shrugging off weak global cues. The BSE Sensex is at 16,844, up 167 points and the S&P CNX Nifty is at 5,047, up 46 points. Gains in heavyweights- Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and ITC have contributed around 80 points to the Sensex.

"The monsoon has picked up pace but food inflation has crossed 10%. The RBI could hike rates by another 25 bps on Sept. 16. The key would be to see if the RBI signals an end to its tightening cycle or not," said IIFL in a research note.

Sterlite Industries has moved up 4% at Rs 134 and is the top gainer on the Sensex. Other prominent gainers include Reliance Industries, Mahindra & Mahindra, Jindal Steel and DLF, up 3% each. The worst performers on the Sensex include Tata Power, TCS, Infosys, BHEL and Maruti Suzuki, down 1-2% each.

Among the sectoral indices, BSE Oil & Gas, Metal and Consumer Durables indices are leading the gains, up 2% each. The top gainers from the Oil & Gas space include Reliance Industries, Indian Oil corporation, Cairn India and GAIL, up 2-3% each.

BSE IT continues as the major laggard, down 1%.

Among individual stocks, Maruti Suzuki dipped a per cent after the company reported a 12.74% fall in sales for August to 91,442 units due to the ongoing labour unrest at its Manesar plant that has affected production.

BHEL has shed a per cent in morning trades on news that the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved offloading 5 per cent paid-up equity through book-building process in the domestic market. After this the government stake will come down to 62.72 per cent.

The overall market breadth is positive as 1,465 stocks have advanced against 895 declining ones on the BSE.