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The markets have steadfastly held on to their morning gains, thanks to the strength in banking and metal space. The Sensex is at 22,388, higher by 64 points and the Nifty is at 6673, up 20 points. The broader markets are also in the green, with the midcap index adding 19 points at 7379 and the smallcap index adding 53 points at 7580.
The benchmark indices had a firm opening this morning, tracking positive global cues, and the pullback has held until till now. In the process, the Nifty has bounced back from its crucial psychological support level of 6650, although it is still shy of the 6700 mark that was convincingly breached in Wednesday's session. The bourses had declined nearly 1% on Wednesday to its lowest close in about one-and-half months.
Cipla has strengthened by 1.9% at Rs 390 to top the gainer's list on the BSE. The banking stocks are doing well this morning; ICICI Bank has firmed up by 1.3% at Rs 1289 and SBI has jumped by 1% at Rs 2094. In the metal space, Hindalco has added 1.3% at Rs 137 and Tata Steel has added 1.1% at Rs 404.
The IT space is quiet post the battering received in the previous session. Infosys and TCS are flat at Rs 3059 and Rs 2153 respectively. Wipro has, however, added 1.2% at Rs 512. The Nasdaq-listed software giant, Cognizant had reported a 19.9% rise in its first quarter earnings for the quarter ending March to $2.42 billion. In October-December quarter, Cognizant had reported a 20.9% rise in revenues.
Both Financial Technologies (India) and Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) have nosedived by 5%, after Jignesh Shah the promoter of these companies was arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police in connection with the National Spot Exchange (NSEL) scam.
On the other hand, Gail India has weakened by 1.2% at Rs 359 to top the losers list on the BSE. TCS has shed 0.6% at Rs 2152 and Hero MotoCorp has lost 0.6% at Rs 2151.
The market breadth in BSE remains healthy with 1203 shares advancing and 871 shares declining.
