Markets off day's high, IIP nos weigh

The markets are have come off the intra-day high levels in the noon deals after the government released the IIP figures for the January 2012. The Sensex is up 91 points at 17,594 and the Nifty is up 26 points at 5,359. Earlier in the day, the markets opned on a strong note tracking global cues and the Sensex touched the high of 17,772.

According to data released today, Index of Industrial Production or the IIP grew by 6.8% year-on-year in January 2012. In December 2011, the Index grew by just 1.8% year-on-year due to contraction in mining and capital goods sectors and a lower manufacturing sector growth.

Meanwhile, the Asian markets have edged lower in trades with the Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng slipping over 0.3%  each. The Nikkei was trading marginally lower.

Back home, Larsen & Toubro is the top Sensex gainer, up nearly 4% to Rs 1,352 extending its Friday's 5% rally after the Board decided to bifurcate the role of Chairman and Managing Director into two positions. State Bank of India, Bajaj Auto, BHEL, Reliance4 Industries, ICICI Bank, Hero MotoCorp, Sun Pharma, Coal India and Jindal Steel are also trading higher by 0.4-3.5% each.

On the other hand, Cipla, Infosys, Mahindra & Mahindra, NTPC, ONGC, HDFC Bank, TCS ITC and Maruti Suzuki are among the laggards.

On the sectoral front, the BSE Capital Goods index is the top gainer, up nearly 3% or 284 points at 10,473 levels. Consumer Durables, Bankex, Oil & Gas, Realty, PSU, Auto and Power indices are also trading higher by 0.4-1.4% each.

At the same time, selling pressure is visible in the technology and healthcares stocks. The BSE IT index is the top sectoral loser, down 1% or 66 points at 6,066 levels.

Havells India, BEML, Punj Lloyd, Siemens, Pipavav Defence and AIA Engineering are the top gainers from th capital goods space.

Among the individual stocks, Voltas Limited has surged 6% to Rs 123 after foreign brokerage firm, Goldman Sachs, upgraded the stock to "buy" from "neutral" and raised its target price to Rs 145, a Reuters report suggests.

Jaypee Infratech has soared 7% at Rs 49 on announcing a board meet on Wednesday to consider fund raising plans through various options for the company’s project.

Broader markets are trading highher. The BSE mid-cap index has advanced nearly 1% to 6,384 levels and the Small-cap index is up 0.7% at 6,793.

The overall breadth is positive as 1,440 stocks are advancing while 1,063 are declining.