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Markets remained range bound at higher levels led by gains in shares of auto firms on talk that they will challenge the CCI order to pay penalty. Meanwhile, select bank and oil shares continued to trade firm after the first hour of trade.
At 10:35AM, the 30-share Sensex was up 125 points at 26,568 after touching an intra-day high of 26,599 and the 50-share Nifty was up 32 points at 7,937 after hitting an intra-day high of 7,947 so far.
The rupee weakened against the US dollar and was trading lower at Rs 60.50 compared to the previous close of Rs 60.43. Dollar index, a basket of currencies traded against the greenback, hit 13-month high.
ICICI Bank, ONGC, ITC and Hindustan Unilever were among the top gainers contributing the most to the Sensex gains.
In the auto sector, Tata Motors was up 1.8% and Mahindra & Mahindra gained 0.3%. However, Maruti Suzuki was trading flat with positive bias.
Among other shares, Venus Remedies has surged 12% to Rs 289 on BSE, after the pharmaceutical company has entered into an agreement with Israel-based generic drug maker Teva for selling an anti-cancer drug in Canada.
Shares of defense equipment and manufacturers have trading higher by up to 6% after the government decided to allow foreign direct investment in defence sector. Bharat Electronics, BEML, Astra Microwave and Pipavav Defence and Offshore were up 3-6% each.
UCO Bank has tanked 7% after PTI reports that the government has ordered limited forensic audit into some non-performing accounts of state-owned bank to find out any irregularities in sanction of loans.In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap index was up 0.6% and Small-cap index rose 1%.
Market breadth was strong with 1,409 gainers and 774 losers on the BSE.
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(Updated at 9:40AM)
Markets continued to trade higher, amid firm Asian cues, with bank and oil shares leading the gains. However, intra-day volatility is not ruled out later today with the expiry of August derivative contracts tommorrow.
At 9:40AM, the 30-share Sensex was trading 132 points up at 26,574 and the 50-share Nifty was trading 36 points up at 7,941.
US stocks firmed up on Tuesday as encouraging data showed that the economic growth is picking up pace. Gains were led by energy stocks and the broader S&P 500 ended above 2,000 for the first time to close at 2,000.02. It may be recalled that the S&P 500 had hit 2,000 in intra-day trade on Monday. The global benchmark Dow Jones gained 0.2% at 17,106.70 while the tech-laden Nasdaq ended up 0.3% at 4,570.64.
European shares ended higher on Tuesday, tracking firm US markets, on hopes of further monetary stimulus from the European Central Bank. The CAC-40 ended up 1.2%, DAX gained 0.8% and FTSE-100 ended up 0.7%.
Asian shares were steady in early trades while the Nikkei seems to be consolidating after recent gains. The Nikkei was trading flat with positive bias. China's Shanghai Composite was up 0.1% while Hang Seng was also up 0.1% and Straits Times gained 0.3%.
All sectoral indices on the BSE were in the green. The BSE Realty and COnsumer Durables indices were the top sectoral gainers up over 1% each. Capital Goods, Auto, Bankex, Oil and Gas were the other gainers.
In the banking pack, ICICI Bank, SBI, Axis Bank were trading over 1% higher. Gains were seen after ICICI Bank and SBI reduced interest rates on big-ticket home loans.
Metal shares rebounded after recent losses following the apex court's verdict on coal block allocations. Jindal Steel was up 2%, Hindalco, Sesa Sterlite and Tata Steel were up over 0.5% e.ach
ONGC was up over 2% on talk that the subsidy burden would be shared between the government and upstream oil companies.
Tata Motors, L&T, Reliance Ind and Bharti Airtel were the other top Sensex gainers.
IT shares came under profit taking with Infosys, Wipro and TCS trading with marginal losses.
In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices were up 0.9% each.
Market breath was strong with 1,187 gainers and 391 losers on the BSE.
