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Benchmark indices continue to trade higher by 0.7% on sustained buying by fund and retail investors ahead of Diwali. Further, strength in the global markets has influenced the market sentiments.
At 2.25 PM, the 30-share Sensex is up 178 points at 26,754 and the 50-share Nifty has gained 60 points to trade at 7,988.
Meanwhile, the provisional data released by the stock exchanges after trading hours on Tuesday, 21 October 2014, showed that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 32.40 crore on that day.
Rupee:
The rupee is trading at 61.19/dollar versus its previous close of 61.31/32. Sentiment for the rupee is positive after the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government ended fuel price controls, opened up the coal sector and the party won two state elections.
Global Markets:
European shares edged up and the euro hit a one-week low against the dollar on Wednesday, driven by upbeat company earnings results and hopes of corporate bond buying by the European Central Bank. FTSE and CAC 40 lost between 0.1-0.5%. However, DAX is trading flat with a positive bias.
Japanese stocks climbed more than 2% on Wednesday as the prospect of the European Central Bank taking further action to stimulate the faltering eurozone economy boosted investor sentiment.
The Nikkei share average rose 2.6% to close at 15,195.77 points, more than recouping Tuesday's losses.
Shares in Japanese suppliers to Apple Inc soared, with Foster Electric Co rising 5.4% and Japan Aviation Electronics Industry jumping 5.8% after the tech giant posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings.
Sectors & Stocks:
On the sectoral front, BSE Auto index is the top gainer up over 2% followed by Capital Goods, Healthcare and Consumer Durables indices trading higher between 0.5-1%. However, Realty index is the only sectoral index which is losing sheen on the BSE.
Shares of automobiles companies are in demand on expectation of robust sales in the ongoing Diwali season.
Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki India, Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) and Eicher Motors are up 1-4% on the BSE.
Hero Motocorp has gained nearly 4% after the company said it expects to clock sales of around 150,000 two-wheelers on the occassion of Dhanteras on October, 21, a growth of 40-50% compared to sales on Dhanteras in 2013.
Reliance Industries is among the top Sensex gainers up 2% on value buying at lower levels after the stock corrected post the gas price hike.
In the capital goods space, L&T and BHEL are up 2% each.
Among banking stocks, SBI, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank have pared gains and are trading lower between 0.2-0.5%.
HDFC, a provider of housing finance in India, reported a 7% increase in net profit at Rs 1,357 crore for the quarter ending September 2014 and is trading with marginal gains.
Among pharma stocks, Cipla gained around 2% and Dr Reddy's jumped around 2.2% while Sun Pharma rose around 1.7%.
Coal India slipped 0.7% as the company is not seen to be benefitting from coal reforms.
In the technology pack, Infosys, Wipro and TCS have gained between 0.5-1.5%.
In the broader market, both the BSE Mid Cap and Small Cap indices have gained over 1% each.
The market breadth remains firm on the BSE with 1,607 shares advancing and 1,057 shares declining.
