Markets extend gains

Markets extended gains in afternoon trades on buying in auto and IT stocks. The BSE Sensex soared to a high of 19,584 - up 319 points. Earlier in the day, the Sensex had dropped to 19,101 - its lowest in two weeks. Nifty was up 86 points at 5,871.

Markets would be looking towards the fourth quarter corporate numbers which is set to trickle in from Friday.

BSE mid and small-cap indices gained in line with the benchmark. BSE mid-cap index jumped 72 points at 7,196 while small-cap index gained 92 points to 8,802.

Among Asian peers, Nikkei and Shanghai Composite gained 1% each to 9,641 and 3,049, respectively. Seoul Composite jumped 1.5% while Hang Seng was up 0.5%.

Meanwhile, auto and IT shares moved up smartly. BSE IT index was up 1.5% at 6,647. Auto index gained 2% at 9,377.

Hero Honda surged 4% to Rs 1,706. Maruti Suzuki gained 3% to Rs 1,273. Apollo Tyres and Tata Motors rose 2.5% each.

In the IT pack, TCS led gains with 2.6% upmove. HCL Tech, Wipro and Financial Technologies ere up 2% each. Infosys, which is set to come out with their results on Friday, was up 1% in trades.

PSU OMCs and airlines stocks were up crude oil prices rose. Brent crude was trading at $121.49.

HPCL jumped 4.5% to Rs 361. BPCL moved up 2% at Rs 600. Indian Oil was up 2.5% at Rs 334. Meanwhile, Kingfisher added 1.3%, Jet Airways advanced 2% and Spice Jet surged 5% in trades.

Among Sensex stocks, HDFC and Larsen & Toubro contributed to the upmove. Banking stocks were up with ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and SBI gaining 1-2% each.

BSE market breadth was positive. OUt of 2,887 stocks traded, 1,834 advanced while 942 declined.