Sensex up 200pts

Markets continued to trade on a strong note in the late morning deals, the Sensex added 204 points to 18,554 and the Nifty was at 5579 higher by 57 points. The IT, capital goods and realty stocks continued to trade on a positive note.

Infosys remained the top gainer on the Sensex, the stock jumped 2.6% to Rs 3081, Wipro was trading higher by 2.3% to Rs 449. DLF, Larsen & Toubro, Reliance Infrastructure, TCS, BHEL, HDFC, NTPC, J P Associates, HDFC Bank, ITC and Mahindra & Mahindra added 1-2% each. On the other hand Cipla was the only loser on the Sensex.

Technology stocks continued to trade on a strong note, the BSE IT index added 2.3% or 141 points to 6240, Teck index was higher by 2% to 3674. Capital Gods index added 180 points and was at 12,915. Realty, FMCG, Consumer Durables, Bankex, Auto, Power and Metal indices were also higher by 0.6-1% each.

Financial Technologies continued to remain the top gainer on the IT charts, the stock surged 6.2% to Rs 819 on reports that the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), India's top commodity trading platform, is planning to list on the bourses by September this year.

HCL Technologies, Infosys, Wipro, Oracle Financial Services Software, TCS, Mphasis, Patni Computers and Core Projects were also among the gainers.

Usha Martin remained the top gainer among the capital goods stocks, the stock zoomed 5.8% to Rs 60. It was followed by BGR Energy, BEML, Larsen & Toubro, Praj Industries, Lakshmi Machine Works, BHEL, Thermax and Alstom Projects.

The broader markets were in line with the benchmark indices, the Small-cap index jumped 1% or 79 points to 8000 and the mid-cap index was at 6716, up 60 points.

Shree Ashtavinayaka Cine Vision was the top gainer on the mid-cap charts, the stock added 9% to Rs 6, it was followed by JSL Stainless, Financial Technologies, KEC International, Usha Martin, Parsvanath Developers, Sterlite Technologies and Voltas.

Aqua Logistics, UB Engineering, Commercial Engineers, BS Transcomm, Kiri Dyes, Zenith Infotech and Ingersoll Rand were the top gainers on the small-charts.

The overall breadth remained positive as 1625 stocks advanced while 919 stocks declined.