Positive movement continues

Positive movement marked the past trading hour, with the Sensex notching up 177 points at 20,066. The Nifty, after touching an intra-day high of 6,007, was at 5,995 up 50 points.

Hindalco Industries was the top gainer, up 4% at Rs 232, followed by ICICI Bank at Rs 1,131 up 3%, and Sterlite Industries at Rs 173, up 2%.

Top losers were Hero Honda down 2% at Rs 1,938, and TCS at Rs 1,162 and NTPC at Rs 193, both down marginally less than 1%.

The Mid-cap index was at 7,622 and the Small-cap was at 9,328, both up 1%.

ARSS Infrastructure Projects, India Infoline added 7% and 6% respectively were the top gainers in the mid-cap space. MVL, Wockhardt, KGN Inds, Essar Shipping Ports, all up 5%, were the other notable gainers in the Mid-cap index.

Arshiya International, Parenteral Drug up 10% each were the top gainers in the small-cap space followed by Cambridge Solutions, Minda Industries, Siyaram Silk, Action Construction, SPML Infrastructure, Shriram Epc, Ankur Drugs gained between 7-9%.

Banking stocks continued to gain, with the index up more than 2% at 13,073. Leading scrips in this sector were Axis Bank at Rs 1,313 and ICICI Bank at Rs 1,131, both up 3%, followed by mid-sized Yes Bank up 2% at Rs 297.

The Metal index also gained further as the London Metal Exchange (LMEX), a gauge of six metals, closed at two-and-half year highs yesterday. The index gained over 1% at 4,048, its highest level since May 2008, on firm base metal prices in key world markets. Leading metal stocks were Hindalco Industries up 4% at Rs 232, followed by Bhushan Steel up 3% at Rs 466, and Sterlite Industries at Rs 173 up 2%.

Realty companies also fared positively on the BSE, with the Realty index gaining 1% at 2,767.

The Healthcare index was the lowest sectoral index; it traded flat at 6,506 up barely 4 points.