Markets continued trade on a firm note in the last hour of trade, the Sensex advanced 231 points to 18,399 and The S&P CNX Nity was at 5512 higher by 62 points.
The broader markets continued to outperform the benchmark indices, the BSE small-cap index surged 1.4% or 92 points to 6560 and the Small-cap index was at 7791 higher by 1.6%.
JM Financial was the top mid-cap gainer followed by BF Utilities, Parsvanath Developers, Allcargo Global, Tube Investments, Escorts and Whirlpool. Among the small-cap stocks Fame India, IFB Industries, Autoline Industries, VIP Industries, Andhra Cements and Tatia Global were among the top gainers.
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(Updated at 10.30 AM)
Markets opened higher on back of strong global cues and continued to trade on a firm note.
The Sensex added 187 ponts to 18,354 and the Nifty revisited the 5500 mark, the index jumped 55 points to 5505.
The Asian markets were trading higher, Nikkei225 was at 8901 higher by 296 points or 3.4%, Taiwan added 74 points to 8309, Shanghai was at 2907 up 11 points however Hang Seng was trading lower by 99 points at 22,579.
Back home Reliance Infrastructure was the top gainer among the Sensex stocks, the stock surged 5% to Rs 644 followed by ICICI Bank, Sterlite Industries, DLF, Reliance Communication, Cipla and State Bank of India, higher by around 2% each. While, Hindustan Unilever and Hero Honda languished.
All the sectoral indices were trading higher, BSE Consumer Durable index was the top sectoral gainer, the index zoomed 2.6% or 147 points to 5895, Realty index added 1.8% to 2090 and the Bankex was higher by 202 points at 12,379. BSE Oil & Gas index which was the top gainer saw a bit of correction on back of mild profit booking, the index was at 10,062 up 93 points. PSU, power, auto, healthcare and metal indices also added around 1.4% each.
VIP Industries was the top gainer among the consumer durable stocks, followed by Whirlpool, Titan Industries, Blue Star, Gitanjali Gems, Rajesh Exports and Videocon Industries.
Among the realty stocks Parsvanath Developers surged 6% to Rs 36, Ackruti City added nearly 4% to Rs 233. Unitech, Anant Raj Industries, Sobha Developers, DLF, Orbit Corp and Indiabulls Real Estate were also among the gainers.
The broader markets outperformed the benchmark indices, the BSE mid-cap index jumped 1.4% or 90 points to 6558 and the Small-cap index advanced 1.6% to 7920.
The overall market breadth remained positive as 1740 stocks advanced while 537 stocks declined.