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Markets extended gains and the Nifty was seen hovering around 7,300 levels led by index heavyweight Reliance Industries.
At 11AM, the 30-share Sensex was up 190 points 24,488 and the 50-share Nifty was up 52 points 7,305.
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(Updated at 10:35AM)
Markets edged higher after the first hour of trade and the Nifty was seen heading towards 7,300, led by index heavyweight Reliance Industries.
At 10:35AM, the 30-share Sensex was up 155 points 24,452 and the 50-share Nifty was up 42 points 7,295.
Asian shares were trading firm tracking overnight gains on Wall Street. Chinese shares also firmed up on encouraging factory data. The HSBC Flash China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) recovered to 49.7 in May from April's final reading of 48.1, beating a Reuters' poll forecast of 48.1. A weaker yen also helped boost sentiment for Japanese shares. The Nikkei was up 2.1%, Shanghai Composite gained 0.4%, Hang Seng rose 0.7% and Straits Times was up 0.2%.
The rupee firmed up against the US dollar tracking gains in equities. The currency was at Rs 58.60 compared to the previous close of Rs 58.77. On Wednesday, the rupee weakened for a second consecutive session, because of huge demand for dollars from importers and after foreign investors turned sellers of domestic shares for the first time in about a month.
BSE Consumer Durables index was the top gainer among the sectoral indices, up 6.8%, with gold-related stocks leading the gains. Metal, Auto, Realty, Bankex, Power, Capital Goods. Oil and Gas indices were among the other gainers.
TCS and Reliance Industries were up 1.2-1.8% each, contributing most to the Sensex gains. TCS gained after it won an order to conduct the Common Admission Test (CAT) for the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) from this year. CAT is the gateway for those wishing to study at the 13 IIMs and 150 other B-schools. Officials from IIMs said the five-year contract would be $5 million (about Rs 29 cr).
Coal India was up 7% on reports that Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modi is exploring the possibility of splitting up the state-owned company and opening the sector to foreign investment to boost output and cut imports.
Bajaj Auto was up nearly 3% afte the Egypt government lifted the ban on three-wheeler imports which was in effect since February. The ban was imposed with a view to promote the domestic manufacturing industry. Sources said that the Pune-based company which exports more than one-fourth of its total three-wheeler produce to the African nation will begin shipments of 5500 three-wheelers next month. Among other auto shares, Maruti Suzuki was up 5.5% and M&M was up nearly 1%.
Meanwhile, Infosys and Wipro were trading lower amid an appreciating rupee. Infosys was down 1% while Wipro lost 0.5%.
HDFC Group shares, HDFC Bank and HDFC also witnessed profit taking down 0.8-1.4% each.
Among other shares, Kalindee Rail Nirman (Engineers) is locked at the lower circuit of 10% at Rs 122 on the NSE after the company said its board approved the merger with Texmaco Rail & Engineering. The board has fixed the share swap ratio 1: 1.06, i.e. 106 fully paid-up equity shares of Rs 1 each of Texmaco shall be issued for every 100 fully paid-up equity share of Rs 10 each held by a shareholder in the company, it added.
In the broader market, the Mid-cap index was up 1.8% and Small-cap index was up 2%.
Market breadth was strong with 1,834 gainers and 442 losers on the BSE.
