Market off day's high; ICICI up almost 4%

Markets continue to trade robustly; the main benchmark indices of frontline stocks, now off their day's high, are up by 1.4% on account of strong global cues.

At 11:37am, the 30-share BSE Sensex was up 270 points at 20,488 and the Nifty gained 85 points to trade at 6,080.

The broader markets advanced with both the mid and smallcap indices on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) gaining 0.8% each.

The drop in Brent crude prices by more than $2 a barrel following a breakthrough nuclear deal between world powers and Iran over the weekend added to the positive sentiment. The fall in oil prices will narrow the current deficit and help keep inflation under check.

Also, the rupee was trading strong in morning trade due to dollar sale by exporters and banks.At 1020 hrs, the Indian currency was trading at Rs 62.58 compared with Friday's close of Rs 62.83 per dollar. However, currency dealers see month end dollar putting pressure on the rupee later during the day.

Most Asian share indices were trading higher with the exception of Shanghai Composite which was down 0.4%. Japan's Nikkei led the gainers in the region up 1.3% on the back of a weaker yen. Further, the Hang Seng and Straits Times were marginally up 0.1% each.

Among industry wise sector indices on BSE: Banks, Realty and Capital Goods are up 2.1-2.6% while PSU, FMCG, Oil & Gas, Auto and Metal are up between 1-1.6%.

Infosys marginally in the red by 0.1% was the only losers among the Sensex-30.

ICICI Bank, ITC, HDFC Bank, L&T, Tata Motors and Reliance were up 1-3.8% were the top Sensex gainers. Infosys, Bharti Airtel, and Dr. Reddy's are the only losers on the Sensex index.

Other Shares

DIC India was locked in upper circuit of 20% at Rs 283 on NSE after the company informed exchanges that its promoter DIC Asia Pacific Pte Ltd has indicated a price of Rs 260 for the proposed delisting. The de-listing offer price is about 10% premium to DIC India’s closing price of Rs 235.5 on Friday.

Pfizer surged over 8% to Rs 1,552 after announcing a special interim dividend of 36000% or Rs 360 per share.

Wyeth rallied 14.6% to Rs 933 after the board of directors of the pharmaceutical company approved the merger of the company with Pfizer.

The market breadth was strong with 1290 advances and 678 declines on the BSE