Markets are trading higher led by gains in heavyweights - Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and ITC, shrugging off weak trade across Asia.
The Nifty touched a high 5,113 in opening trades, catching up with other global markets which posted gains for the past two sessionsm but soon pared some of the gains. The index was hovering around 5,044, up 43 points, and the Sensex was at 16,830, up 146 points. Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and ITC contributed around 80 points to the Sensex.
---------------------Updated at 09:50 hours
In Asia, indices snapped two days of gains led by selling in technology and resource shares. The Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1%, China’s Shanghai Composite was down 1%, South Korea's Kospi was off 1% and the Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average slipped 1.1%. Overnight Wall Street indices also ended in the red as investors were hesitant to take new positions ahead of the monthly jobs report.
Back in India, markets may remain subdued as food inflation rose to 10.05%, highest in six months and fuel price index climbed to 12.55% in the year ended August 20. There are expectations that the Reserve Bank of India may hike interest rates by another 25 bps as inflation scaled to double digits.
On Thursday a slew of macro data was reported; exports surged 82%, imports rose 51.5%, and the trade deficit stood at $11.1 billion for the month of July.
Among individual stocks Maruti Suzuki declined 2% after July sales declined 13%.
From the sectoral indices, BSE Healthcare and Oil & Gas shares were leading the gains, up over 1% each.
Top gainers from the healthcare stocks were Sun Pharma and Lupin, up over 2% each, and Dr.Reddy's Lab was up 1.4%.
Top gainers from the Oil & Gas space were Reliance Industries, up 2%, Gail India added 1.3% and Indian Oil Corporation surged over 1%.
BSE Realty index was the top loser, down 0.7%. Indiabulls Real Estate declined 3.2%, DLF fell 2.5% and Anant Raj Industries was off 2.4%.
From the broader markets, midcap and the smallcap indices declined 0.6% and 0.8% each.
Top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Auto, up 2%, Sun Pharma added 1.9% and Bharti Airtel 1.8%. DLF slipped 2.4%, JP Associates declined 2% and Infosys was off 1.5%.
Market breadth was positive, 996 stocks advanced for 640 stocks which declined on the BSE.
