Markets trading firm

Markets continued to trade on a firm note in the last hour of trade, the Sensex was at 18,412 higher by 189 points and the S&P CNX Nifty added 50 points at 5513.

Jaiprakash Associates continued to remain the top gainer among the Sensex stocks the stock added 3% to Rs 84, followed by Reliance Infrastructure, Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Auto, DLF, ONGC, Infosys, TCS, Tata Steel and HDFC Bank. On the other hand Hero Honda, Maruti Suzuki, ITC, Hindalco and Larsen and Toubro were notable losers.

Buying was visible across the sectors, BSE IT index continued to remain the top sectoral gainer, the index was higher by 1.8% or 115 points at 6283, Consumer Durable index added 65 points to 5729 BSE bnanking index- Bankex was higher by 138 points or 1.3% to 12,383. Realty, Metal, PSU, Auto, Oil & Gas and Power indices were also trading higher by 0.7-1% each.

Tech Mahindra was the top gainer among the IT stocks, the stock was trading at Rs 729 up 7.7%, Infosys, Core Projects, TCS, Oracle Financial Services Software, HCL Technologies and Patni Computers were trading higher by 0.6-2% each.

Among the consumer durable stocks Whirlpool was the top gainer, up nearly 3% to Rs 229 followed by Titan Industries, VIP Industries, Videocon, Gitanjali Gems, Bajaj Electricals and Blue Star.

The broader markets were also trading higher, the BSE mid-cap index added 51 points to 6550 and the small-cap index was at 7938 higher by 53 points.

The overall market breadth remained positive as 1679 stocks advanced while 1006 stocks declined.