Markets end at 6-month highs

Key share indices ended at their 6-month highs on Thursday after renewed buying interest was seen in late trades led by gains in private banking majors and index heavyweight Infosys.

The 30 share Sensex provisionally closed at 17,867 up 160  points whereas the Nifty provisionally ended up 51 points at 5,419.

On August 4, 2011 the Sensex had ended at 17,940.55 and on August 3, 2011 the Nifty had ended at 5,404.80.

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(Updated at 14:50hrs)

Markets have recouped the losses in the late noon deals on the back of positive cues from the European markets. The Sensex is up 19 points at 17,726 levels and the Nifty is up 11 points at 5,379 levels.

The European markets are trading higher on Thursday as investors bet on a positive outcome to Greek reform talks needed for a fresh bailout, while Norway's biggest bank DNB featured among the top movers after strong results. FTSE is up 22 points at 5,898 levels, CAC index is up 20 points at 3,430 and the DAX is up 50 points at 6,798 levels.

Back home, Bajaj Auto is the top Sensex gainer, up 2.5% at Rs 1,688. Tata Motors has also edged higher by 2.3% at Rs 256. Sterlite  Industries, Jindal Steel, HDFC Bank, Tata Power, NTPC and Hero motoCorp are also trading higher by 1-2% each.

On the other hand, Hindalco remains the top loser, down 3.3% at Rs 155. Country's largest aluminium producer Hindalco Industries posted a slight dip in net profit at Rs 450 crore for the quarter ended December 2011. The company's net profit in the same period a year ago was Rs 460.3 crore.

Bharti Airtel has also slipped 2.2% at Rs 346 extending their 6.5% drop yesterday, as several brokerages cut their price targets on the stock after the leading Indian mobile operator missed estimates and reported an eighth straight drop in quarterly profit.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries is also trading in the red RIL has dropped by almost 1% snapping last two-day gains on back of profit booking.

DLF, ONGC, Tata Steel, Larsen & Toubro, Sun Pharma, TCS, ITC and Gail India have also shed 0.6-2.2% each.

Auto stocks are witnessing renewed buying interest in the late noon deals. The BSE Auto index has advanced 1.5% or 147 points to 9,712. Realty index has also advanced 1.4% to 1,894 levels. Consumer durables, banking, power, metal, PSU and IT stocks are also witnessing buying in trades so far.

At the same time , oil & gas, capital goods, healthcare and teck stocks are facing selling pressure.

Apollo Tyres is the top gainer among the auto stocks, up nearly 4% at Rs 75. it is followed by Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors, Exide Industries, hero MotoCorp, Mahindra & Mahindra and Bharat Forge are also trading higher.

From the oil & gas space, GAIL and Indian Oil are the losers.

Among the individual shares, Dhanlaxmi Bank has surged 12% at Rs 64.40, extending its previous day’s 3% gain, on back of huge volumes.

Greaves Cotton has rallied 15% to Rs 94.70 after the company said it has sold its land in Chennai for a consideration of Rs 80 crore.

Dishman Pharmaceuticals and Chemicals  has surged 18% to Rs 65.10 after reporting a ten-fold jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 16.72 crore for the quarter ended December, on the of lower raw material cost. The mid-cap pharmaceutical company had a net profit of Rs 1.68 crore in the same quarter year ago.

The broader markets continue to putperform the benchmark indices. The BSE mid-cap index is up 1% at 6,223 lvels and the small-cap index is up 1% at 6,879.

The overall breadth is positive as 1,683 stocks are advancing while 1,104 are declining.