Markets trading near day highs

M&M is the top Sensex gainer, surging by almost 3%

Key share indices are trading near day highs led by buying interest among index heavyweight Reliance Industries and financials.

At 11:35, the Sensex which touched an intra-day high of 16,666 so far was up 186 points at 16,664 while the Nifty which touched an intra-day high of 5,038 was up 60 points at 5,035.  

On the global front, Asian shares fell on Thursday, as a weak Chinese trade data stoked fears of a growth slowdown, further undermining risk appetites already reduced by worries about the health of Spanish banks and deepening political chaos in Greece.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan, which has declined the past five days, slipped 0.1% to its lowest in nearly four months.

Back home, index heavyweight Reliance Inds has surged over 1.5%. RIL said it signed a $2-billion equivalent loan with nine banks covered by Euler Hermes Deutschland AG earlier this week in Germany.

Auto shares firmed up after car sales in India rose an annual 3.4% in April, according to data from Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) on Thursday., a sixth consecutive monthly increase but lower than in recent months after the country hiked excise duty on the vehicles.From the Auto segment, M&M is the top Sensex gainer, surging by almost 3%. Hero Moto and Bajaj Auto have gained by nearly 2% each.

Among Capital Goods space, L&T and BHEL have increased by nearly 1% on value buying at lower levels after both shares had witnessed heavy selling pressure in the past few sessions.

Banking and financial shares like SBI, HDFC, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank have gained between 1-2%.

Telecom major Bharti Airtel has gained by over 1%. According to reports, the company may buy 26% stake in a Qualcomm venture.

Other notable gainers include Cipla, JSPL, HUL, DLF, Wipro and Tata Power.

On the losing side Maruti Suzuki and Infosys have declined between 1-2%.

The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices remain firm, both gaining by nearly 1% each.

Among other shares, IDFC gained almost 5%, extending its previous day’s 1.5% gain, after reporting a 16% year-on-year (y-o-y) growth in net profit at Rs 332 crore for the quarter ended March 2012, on back of strong growth in operational income. Total income from operations grew 32% at Rs 1,715 crore on y-o-y basis.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals has rallied 6% to Rs 359 after the management has given a strong FY13 guidance of 22-25% growth in revenue and 19-20% EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) margin.

The overall market breadth remains healthy with 1,415 stocks advancing while 803 declining.