Markets extend gains in afternoon trades
IT and auto shares lead gains
Markets have gained to the day's high this afternoon, on the back of buying in IT and auto shares. The Sensex is up 90 points at 16,506. Nifty is up 25 points at 5,011.
Asian shares rose today on hopes of a stimulus for more growth in China. Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite rallied over 1% each. Nikkei was up 0.7% at 8,657.
BSE IT index has gained 1.3% to 5,633. The rupee was trading at 55.54 against the dollar today. The domestic currency had gained as much as 82 paise to a dollar in the last three days, extending a turnaround of sentiment from last Thursday when the rupee was at its all-time weakest point at 56.38 to a dollar.
BSE auto index added 1%, followed by capital goods and power. Meanwhile the consumer durables and FMCG indices slipped marginally in trades.
ITC slipped 1% to Rs 232. Bharti Airtel was down 0.7% at Rs 300, followed by DLF and Hindalco.
Meanwhile, Maruti Suzuki added 2% to Rs 1125. SBI, TCS, Tata Motors and BHEL advanced 1-2% each. Coal India added 1.2% to Rs 319. The company posted a 4.92 per cent decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 4,013 crore for the quarter ended March 31, compared with Rs 4,221 crore a year ago. Net sales for the period, however, rose 29.42 per cent to Rs 19,419 crore over Rs 15,005 crore reported in the year-ago period. ONGC is trading marginally higher ahead of its March quarter results today.
BSE market breadth was positive. Out of 2,501 stocks traded, 1,299 shares have advanced while 1,069 shares have declined in trades.