Markets near day highs

Benchmark shares indices firmed up and are trading near their day highs led by FMCG major ITC and index heavyweight Reliance Industries. 

At 1300 hrs, the Sensex was up 166 points at 16,864 and the Nifty gained 41 points at 5,105. The Sensex had touched an intra-high of 16,862 and the Nifty touched an intra-day high of 5,108 so far.

Asian markets are trading mixed with Nikkei, Hang Seng, Taiwan and Shanghai dipping between 0.1-1%. Strait Times and Kospi are trading positive.

Among the sectoral indices on the Bombay Stock Exchange, BSE Oil and Gas and FMCG indices have surged by almost 2%. Sectors like Capital Goods, Healthcare, PSU and Power have gained by nearly 1% each. However, BSE Consumer Durable and IT indices are trading marginally in red zone.

Index heavyweight Reliance Inds has gained by nearly 1%. Oil & Gas producer ONGC has climbed over 2%.

FMCG major ITC is the top Sensex gainer, up  by 3% to Rs 250, near to its lifetime high of Rs 252.85 touched on April 27 this year. A combined 3.02 million shares have changed hands on the counter till noon deals on both the exchanges. HUL has inched up by nearly 1%.

From the Capital Goods space, L&T has gained by nearly 2%.

Other notable gainers include GAIL, Cipla, Sun Pharma, TCS, M&M, HDFC, Hero Moto and ICICI Bank, all gaining between 1-2%.

On the losing side, Sterlite is the top Sensex loser, down over 2%. Infosys and have dropped by almost 1% each.

Among other shares, MindTree Limited is trading higher by 3% at Rs 624 after V G Siddhartha, Coffee Day Group’s chairman acquired additional 3.84% stake in the company for around Rs 95 crore from Walden International.

Venus Remedies has moved higher by 7.3% to Rs 225, surging 38% in past six trading sessions after the company has received patent from the US Patent Office for new antibiotic product CSE 1034, which targets drug resistant infections.

BSE market breadth was marginally negative with 1,222 declines and 1,081 gainers.