Markets trading firm

Markets traded on a firm note on back continuous buying in capital goods, realty, auto and power stocks. The Sensex was higher by 81 points at 18,527 and the Nifty was at 5548 higher by 24 points.

HDFC was the top gainer on the Sensex, the stock was trading higher by 3.6% at Rs 674, Larsen & Toubro added 3.3% to Rs 1664. Tata Power, HDFC Bank, DLF, BHEL, J P Associates, Tata Motors and Bajaj Auto were also trading higher by 1.5-3% each. Menawhile Infosys, Hindalco, Reliance Infrastructure, Bharti Airtel, Sterlite Industries, Jindal Steel and Reliance Industries were among the losers.

On the sectoral front, the BSE Capital Goods index continued to remain the top gainer, the index was at 13,183 higher by 264 points or 2%, BSE Realty index added 1.6% at 2097, Auto index added 1.4% at 8839. Consumer Durable,Bankex, FMCG and Power indices were trading higher by 0.5-0.9% each. PSU and Healthcare indices which were in red were trading marginally higher. On the other hand metal, IT and oil & Gas stocks continued to reel under the selling pressure.

Punj Lloyd was the top gainer among the capital goods stocks, the stock was trading higher by 4.3% at Rs 66, Larsen & Toubro, BGR Energy, Havells, Gammon India, BHEL, Lakshmi Machine Works, Reliance Industrial Infrastructure and BEML were also among the gainers. Among the realty stocks Sobha Developers was the top gainer followed by Orbit Corp, Ackruti City, Indiabulls Real Estate, DLF and D B Realty.

Welspun Corp led the losers charts among the metal stocks, down 4% to Rs 184, Hindalco, Sterlite Industries, Tata Steel, Jindal Steel, SAIL and NMDC were also among the losers.

The broader markets continued to trade on a flat note the BSE mid-cap index added 25 points at 6602 and the small-cap index was at 8034 higher by 31 points.

Bajaj Finserv was the top gainer among the mid-cap stocks, the stock was trading higher by 18% at Rs 515, Essar Shipping Ports and Logistics, Deccan Chronicle Holdings, Jubilant Lifesciences, Sobha Developers, IBN 18 Broadcasting and Money Matters Financial Services were also among the gainers. Among the small-cap stocks Vindhya Telelinks was the top gainer followed by TTK Healthcare, TTK Prestige, Modern India and Sequent Scientific.

The overall market breadth was positive as 1441 stocks advanced while 1241 stocks declined.