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Benchmark indices are trading firm led by significant buying among IT and metal shares.
At 13:10 pm, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading at 21,078 up 183 points while the broader 50-share Nifty index was up 51 points at 6,266.
Adds Pritesh Mehta, Senior Technical Analyst, India Infoline, “What has been important in today's trade so far, is the participation of midcaps alongwith comeback of large cap stocks like TATA Steel, SBI, RIL, HCL Tech. Now we are making strong higher lows pattern, banks have made a strong comeback and we are on the verge of getting past the ceiling of 6350. So momentum is going to continue.”
Rating agency Standard & Poor's on Thursday affirmed their sovereign credit rating on India, adding that the outlook on Asia's third-largest economy remains negative.
Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 271.70 crore on Wednesday, 6 November 2013, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
On the global front, Asian stocks struggled on Thursday as investors waited for stimulus-sensitive U.S. payroll data, although the euro perked up ahead of the European Central Bank's policy meeting.
The Australian dollar slipped after a weak labour force report showed a big fall in full-time employment -- undermining a popular view that the Reserve Bank of Australia has finished cutting interest rates.
All eyes will be on Friday's nonfarm payrolls data for a chance to gauge when the Fed might begin winding down its $85 billion-a-month bond-buying programme, which is linked to falling unemployment.
Back home, the rupee weakened in morning trade due to dollar demand from corporates.
At 12:50 PM, the rupee was trading at Rs 62.54 compared with previous close of Rs 62.40 per dollar.
On the sectoral front, BSE IT and Metal indices have surged by 2% each followed by counters like Realty, FMCG, Capital Goods and Banks, all gaining by 1% each. However, BSE Consumer Durables index has plunged by over 1%.
IT stocks have extended yesterday's gains as the rupee has hit one-month low against the dollar. A weak rupee boosts revenue of IT firms in rupee terms as the sector derives a lion's share of revenue from exports. Infosys, TCS and Wipro have gained between 1-3%.
Infosys has moved higher by nearly 3% at Rs 3,397, its highest level since January 12, 2011, on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).
The stock opened at Rs 3,321 and hit a low of Rs 3,314 in early morning deals on the NSE. A combined around 560,000 shares have already changed hands on the counter till 1240 hours on BSE and NSE.
Steel shares are also in demand with Tata Steel leading the gains, up by over 4%. Hindalco and has gained by over 2%.
Other notable gainers are Sesa Sterlite, ONGC, L&T, HUL, M&M and HDFC Bank.
Global rating agency Moody's today said strong profitability and capital buffers will help India's three private sectors banks – Axis Bank, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank – to sustain credit quality through the current business cycle.
On the losing side, Bharat Heavy Electricals extended Wednesday's losses triggered by the company's weak Q2 results. The stock has dropped by 4%. The company's net profit fell 64.22% to Rs 455.95 crore on 11.31% decline in total income to Rs 9482.25 crore in Q2 September 2013 over Q2 September 2012. The Q2 result was announced during trading hours on Wednesday, 6 November 2013.
Other notable losers are Coal India, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors and SBI.
Shares of mid-cap private sector banks are in focus, rallied up to 5% in morning deals on BSE, after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released the policy framework for foreign banks in India.
In its policy framework, RBI says it may allow foreign banks to buy private banks after it makes a review of functioning of foreign banks and foreign investment in Indian banks, but it should not exceed overall foreign direct investment (FDI) limit of 74% in any private bank.
Lakshmi Vilas Bank, Karnataka Bank, Dhanlaxmi Bank, Development Credit Bank, South Indian Bank and City Union Bank are trading higher in the range of 2-5% on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
The markets breadth in BSE remains positive with 1,192 shares advancing and 950 shares declining.
