Markets end higher

Markets ended the Thusday's trading session on a strong note. The Sensex advanced 128 points to provisionally close at 17,327 levels and the Nifty jumped 44 opoints to close at 5,271.

The metal, FMCG and banking stocks werre amongst the top performers in the today's trading session. the three respective indices advanced 1.5-2% each by the close of the day.
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(Updated at 1440 hours)

Markets continue to sustain gains in the late noon deals on the back of  buying visible in the baning and metal stocks. The Sensex is up 150 points at 17,340 and the Nifty is up 50 points at 5,275 levels.

Most of the European markets have opened on a subdued note. The CAC and FTSE have opened marginally lower while DAX is up 51 points at 6,276 levels.

The Asian markets also ended on a strong note. The Nikkei closed higher by 66 points at 9,524 levels, Hang Seng advanced 187 points to close at 20,327 and the Shanghai jumped 42 points at 2,351 levels.

Back home, metal and banking stocks are witnessing the renewed buying interest. The BSE metal index is the top sectoral gainer, up 2% or 220 points at 10,940 levels. jindal Steel, Hindalco, Sterlite Industries, JSW Steel, Sesa Goa and SAIL are among the top gainers from this space.

The BSE Bankex is also up nearly 2% or 205 points at 11,994 levels. Canara Bank, Axis Bank, State Bank of India, Infdusind Bank, ICICI Bank, Punjab National Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank are the top gainers, up 2-4% each.

FMCG, auto, capital goods, consumer durables, psu, power and oil & gas stocks are also witnessing buying in trades so far.

On the other hand, IT, healthcare, teck and realty stocks are witnessing a selling pressure.

From the Sensex pack, Hero MotoCorp, maruti Suzuki, BHEL, ITC, Reliance Industries, HUL, Gail India, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Power and Tata Motors are among the top gainers.

At the same time, Sun Pharma, Infosys, DLF, ONGC, TCS, Wipro and NTPC are among the notable losers.

The overall breadth remains positive as 1,700 stocks are advancing while 1,017 are declineng.