The markets continue to trade firm. The Sensex is quoting at 16,709, up 107 points, and the Nifty is at 4987, up 34 points. The BSE mid-cap and small cap indices are up in the region of a percent each. Metals, realty and consumer durables have surged in morning trades, while the IT space is subdued.
The metal stocks have surged on the back of a rally on the London Metal Exchange. Tata Steel is the leading gainer on the Sensex, strengthening Rs 18 or 3.2% at Rs 573. Bharti Airtel has gained Rs 7 or 2.5% at Rs 317 and Hindalco has put on Rs 3 or 2% at Rs 140. ICICI Bank and DLF are the other prominent gainers.
ONGC (weaker by Rs 13 or 1.1% at Rs 1163), Grasim (lower by Rs 25 or 1% at Rs 2370) and TCS (down Rs 4 or 0.6% at Rs 728) are the major losers on the BSE.
The market breath is strong. Out of 2629 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 1754 advancing stocks as against 793 declines.
Tata Steel leads the turnover charts at Rs 69.77 crore on the BSE. This is followed by Reliance at Rs 40.38 crore, Aban Offshore at Rs 30.44 crore, SBI at Rs 23.63 crore and ICICI Bank at Rs 21.79 crore.
Bharti Airtel tops the volume charts, clocking total trades of 14.16 million shares, followed by Unitech at 10.54 million shares, Suzlon at 6.73 million, DLF at 2.29 million and HDIL at 1.82 million shares.
