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Market is off it's days after opening at record high levels. Metal and consumer durable sector stocks are leading the gains at this hour.
Bharti Airtel, Hindalco, Tata Steel, Sun Pharma and SBI are all trading over 1% higher and remain top heavyweight gainers at this hour.
The 30-share Sensex is up 53 points up at 22,393 levels and NSE Nifty is up 15 points at 6,710 levels.
Broader markets continued to outperform the benchmarks at this hour with both the BSE and small-cap indices trading 0.8-1% higher against the benchmark Sensex's 0.2% upmove.
(Updated at 1030hrs)
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Market opened at record high levels on Monday morning tracking firm global cues. On Friday, the Sensex ended the week at 22,339, up 2.6 per cent. The Nifty closed at 6,695, up 3.1 per cent from the previous week.
On Monday, Asian stocks were up slightly in a cautious start to the week, with investors holding out hopes that China would take steps to stimulate its economy.
Japanese shares climbed 1 percent to a 2-1/2-week high on Monday morning on growing hopes China would offer stimulus measures to bolster its sagging economy, with exporters leading the way on a softer yen.
The benchmark Nikkei advanced to 14,839.54 at the opening, its highest level since March 13, and was last traded at 14,808.35, 0.8 percent higher on the day.
At 10am, the 30-share BSE Sensex was up 100 points at 22,440 levels and the 50-unit Nifty was up 187 points at 6,714 levels.
State Bank of India, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries and HDFC are the top heavyweight gainers at this hour while Infosys, TCS, Wipro and Sesa Sterlite lose.
Among sectors, BSE Consumer durables, up over 3%, currently lead the gaining sectors followed by oil & gas, capital goods and power.
In broader markets both BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices are up almost 1% as compared to Sensex's 0.4% uptick.
Market breath is positive at this hour with 1105 advancing against 336 stocks losing on the BSE.
Among stocks that are making headlines currently, Reliance Industries stock is trading 1% higher on Monday after the company's decision to continue the sale of natural gas from its eastern offshore KG-D6 fields to around 16 fertilisers companies at the current rate until the next government decides on a revision in prices, says a report.
Jain Irrigation Systems is up 3% on reports that it is looking to sell a stake in its food-processing business to private equity funds to raise up to Rs 610 crore as it seeks to cut debt and boost growth.
What to watch
On Tuesday, the central bank is expected to meet to decide the direction of interest rates, an event watched keenly by markets for its outlook on growth and inflationary trends. With core inflation having moderated significantly, participants expect it to neither raise nor lower the rates; this has been already factored in by the markets. Any change in this would result in a sharp move, say experts.
For the week ahead, analysts said the Nifty was unlikely to fall below the 6,500-levels. “There has been a shift from 6,400 to 6,500-6,600 puts. This suggests confidence in the market direction. The Nifty is likely to stay above 6,500 and not go down to 6,400-levels in the near future,” said Ashish Chaturmohta, head (technical and derivatives analysis), Fortune Equity Brokers.
The 6,580-level would be a key support for the Nifty, say analysts. A fall below this should present buying opportunities. On the upside, the Nifty is expected to inch closer to the 6,800-levels.
The recent rally in the market has come on the back of continued foreign institutional investor (FII) flows. FIIs were net buyers of equities last week, at Rs 7,562 crore. So far this year, they have pumped in Rs 23,284 crore as net buyers.
The rupee currency has also appreciated, aiding capital flows to find its way into India. So far this year, the rupee has appreciated 3.1 per cent. It is now 59.89 to the dollar.
