IT stocks gain in a rangebound market

Sensex was up 46 points at 20,680 and the Nifty advanced 13 points to trade at 6,140

Markets continue to trade with marginal gains with the BSE benchmark index up 46 points at 20,680 and the Nifty advanced 13 points to trade at 6,140.

Gains in IT heavyweights along with L&T and Sun Pharma are helping the key indices to remain in the positive territory.

In the broader markets, the smallcap index gained 0.6% while the midcap index added 0.3%.

Among sectoral indices, Metal index was down over 1% along with Auto, Power and Realty indices down between 0.1-0.2%.

Banking index was flat with a negative bias.

On the other hand, Capital Goods, Consumer Durables, IT and Health Care indices advanced 0.8-1%.

Sun Pharma up 1.8% was the top Sensex gainer.

IT majors TCS, Infosys and Wipro added 0.6-1.3%.

L&T, BHEL, Gail India, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharti Airtel and ONGC up 0.4-0.9% were the other notable gainers.

Metal names like Sesa Sterlite and Tata Steel down 2% each were the top losers in noon deals.

Tata Power, Hero MotoCorp, NTPC and Bajaj Auto down 1% each were the other notable losers.

Hero MotoCorp slipped after the company announced reduction in two-wheeler prices following the excise duty cut by the Finance Minister in the interim budget.

The market breadth was positive on the BSE. 1266 stocks advanced while 1158 stocks declined.

Global Markets

Asian share markets were in hesitant mood on Wednesday as investors keep a wary eye on interest rates in China, though the euro left the dollar in its dust after soft US economic data argued for the Federal Reserve to be patient on stimulus.

The action was light, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan barely budging. Seoul lost 0.4%, but Sydney edged higher on solid earnings results.

Japan's Nikkei pared its early losses to be off 0.6%, battling to maintain the momentum of Tuesday's 3% rally which followed a decision by the Bank of Japan to expand a scheme to encourage more bank lending.

In the European markets, CAC was down 0.1% while DAX and FTSE gained 0.1% and 0.9% respectively.