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Benchmark indices continue to maintain the strong momentum supported by financials and capital goods shares. Firmness in Asian stocks and fall in crude oil prices have also boosted market sentiment on the domestic bourses.
At 1155hrs, the Sensex was up 283 points at 25,387 and the Nifty advanced 89 points to trade at 7,597.
Adds Mohit Gaba, independent technical analyst & trader, “The Nifty looks good, it’s a buy with a stop loss at 7,530 (spot), if we close at the highs of the day we could see this the Nifty move considerable higher over the next week maybe 7,800”.
On the global front, Asian share markets edged cautiously higher on Monday while the dollar stayed under pressure ahead of packed week of economic data that will test investor hopes for a pick-up in the U.S. and global economies.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.24%. It gained 0.9% last week to be just under multi-month highs, aided by the prospect that interest rates in the major economies will remain near zero for many months to come.
Most markets across the region were up modestly with Seoul adding 0.4% and Shanghai 0.5%. However, Tokyo stocks slipped 0.2% as the dollar lost some more ground to a broadly firmer yen.
Brent futures dipped towards $113 a barrel on Monday as supply disruption fears from Iraq eased.
Back home, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 182.55 crore on Friday, 27 June 2014, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
The rupee is trading at 60.02/03 versus its Friday's close of 60.0850/0950, as the dollar makes losses versus most other Asian currencies.
On the sectoral front, BSE Capital Goods and Power indices have surged by over 2% followed by counters like Banks, Realty, Power, Healthcare, Metal, Consumer Durables, Oil & Gas and IT, all gaining between 1-2%.
The main gainers on the Sensex are Sun Pharma, Tata Power, SBI, L&T, ICICI Bank, BHEL, Hindalco and ONGC.
Shares in ITC, the country's largest cigarette manufacturer, is trading higher by 1.3% at Rs 324 on BSE on back of heavy volumes.
Shares of oil and gas companies are trading higher by up to 3% as Brent crude prices steadied near US $113/barrel.
Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL), Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) are up 2-3% on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
Among other shares, Wabco India has surged as much as 17.8% to their record high of Rs 3,667 after a financial daily reported that the government would make anti-lock braking systems compulsory for all new models of commercial vehicles starting next April, citing unnamed government officials.
Eicher Motors is trading higher by 4% to Rs 8,060, extending its 8% rally in past two days, after the government on June 25 announced the decision to continue with low excise duty for six months till December 31 for auto sector.
Shares in Housing Development & Infrastructure Ltd rose in early trades after Citigroup bought shares in the company on Friday, traders said.
The broader markets are performing firm in line with the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices have gained by over 1%.
The market breadth in BSE remains healthy with 1,829 shares advancing and 721 shares declining.
