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Benchmark indices continue to hold on to their gains led by strong global cues along with buying demand among blue-chip companies.
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However, growth in India's services industry slowed sharply in February as rising prices lead to a slight deceleration in demand, a business survey showed on Thursday.
By 10:50 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was higher by 234 points at 24,477 and the Nifty50 gained 66 points to begin at 7,435.
In the currency front, the rupee today appreciated another 18 paise to trade at a 7-week high of 67.36 against the dollar on sustained bouts of selling of the US currency by banks and exporters amid foreign capital inflows.
The top gainers from the Sensex pack are Tata Motors, Tata Steel, BHEL, L&T and Dr Reddy’s Labs, all up between 3%-5%.
Shares of Tata Motors have rallied nearly 5% to Rs 332 on the BSE after Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) reported a strong 25% jump in US sales at 7,929 units in February 2016 against 6,327 units a year earlier.
Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company (SPARC) has rallied nearly 8% to Rs 301 on the BSE ahead of the board meet on March 5, 2016 for the proposed rights issue.
Among other shares, Dr. Lal PathLabs has soared 11% to Rs 947, its highest level since listing on the bourses in December last year.
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Updated at 9:30 am
Markets have extended gains for third straight trading sessions supported by strong global cues. Markets across the global have edged higher on the back of strong US jobs data and rally in the commodities.
By 9:30 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was higher by 250 points at 24,493 and the Nifty50 gained 72 points to begin at 7,441. The broader markets are underperforming the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are up 0.5%-0.8%.
On Wednesday, indices climbed nearly 2% on Wednesday with the Sensex posting its best two-day gain in nearly seven years as strong global cues and RBI's announcement on capital adequacy norms lifted sentiment.
Meanwhile, India's oil imports from Iran rose by over a fifth in February, the first month after a nuclear deal that lifted restrictions on Tehran's oil exports, preliminary tanker data obtained by Reuters shows.
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In the overseas markets, Asian shares were bound for a third straight session of gains on Thursday as upbeat data on US jobs and a rally in a range of commodities whetted risk appetites globally.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added another 0.9% to reach a seven-week top, having surged 2.6% on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei firmed 0.8%, on top of a 4-percent jump the previous session.
Back home, top gainers from the Sensex pack are HDFC, Tata Steel, Infosys, Dr Reddy’s Labs and Tata Motors are up 2%-3%.
Tata Steel received final environment clearance for its Rs 1,877 crore expansion project to be performed at Jamshedpur Steel Works in Jharkhand. The stock has gained over 2.5%.
HDFC is up around 2% after the company decided to raise Rs 2,000 crore via non-convertible debentures (NCDs) to fund business needs.
Bank shares are trading marginally higher after witnessing strong rally in last two trading session on the back of rate cut hopes.
Hero MotoCorp have extended gains after the company clocked a double digit growth in two-wheeler sales in the month of February 2016.
Dr Reddy's Lab is seeking approval from its shareholders for a share buyback for an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs. 1,569.42 crore. Shares of Dr Reddy's Lab has surged almost 3%.
Tata Motors has edged higher by over 2% after JLR India total sales grew by 54% year-on-year to 277 units compared to 179 units reported in the year-ago period.
With Reuters input
