Gains intact in late morning deals

Markets continue to exhibit strong buying demand mirroring sharp rebound across the global markets. The Sensex and Nifty are trading above 15,400 mark and 4,600 levels respectively. The Sensex, after touching a high of 15,495 is now up 236 points at 15,411. Nifty is up 74 points at 4,617.

On the global front, the US markets posted strong gains yesterday on the back of good US housing starts for November and better-than-expected Spanish bond auctions. Also the Federal Reserve proposed new capital and liquidity rules for US banks, which would be rolled out in two phases. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq Composite was up 3% each.

Asian markets too have rallied smartly today following good US economic data and better-than-expected Spanish bond auctions. Shanghai Composite, Hang Seng, Taiwan Weighted, Nikkei and Straits Times have gained between 1-3%.

All the sectoral indices are in green with Bankex jumping 2.6% to 9,211. The BSE consumer durables, metal and oil & gas indices have advanced 1-2% each.

ICICI Bank is the biggest gainers among Sensex stocks - up 5.4% to Rs 688. Reliance and HDFC, along with ICICI Bank, have accounted for a 100-plus point rally in the Sensex. Reliance had touched its 52-week low on Tuesday amid concerns after the company's advance tax paymnt fell 15.7% to Rs 1,002 crore. Bharti Airtel has added 4% to Rs 336.

From the auto space Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki have gained 2.5% each.Metal names such as Hindalco and Sterlite have added impressively in trades. IT shares were up with Infosys, TCS and Wipro trading higher around 1% each.

Meanwhile, Bajaj Auto slipped 1.4% to Rs 1,581. Keeping it company was Hero MotoCorp.

BSE market breadth is positive with 1,389 shares on the advancing side while 883 shares are on the declining side.