Markets extend gains; Nifty above 5,500

HDFC Bank, Infosys, ITC, TCS and L&T among the top gainers

Markets extended gain in the morning deals as buying in heavyweights like HDFC Bank, Infosys, ITC, TCS and L&T lifted the benchmark indices by over 0.7% each. However, Rupee weakened by 70 paise at 63.90/dollar in early trade.

At 1035 hrs, the Sensex was up 144 points at 18,663 and the Nifty gained 36 points to trade at 5,508.
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(Updated at 1040 hrs)
Markets started the week on a positive note with both the Sensex and the Nifty up over 0.5% each in opening deals. The gains came on the back of an uptick in names like L&T, Wipro, HDFC Bank, ITC and Infosys.

At 0916 hrs, the Sensex was up 135 points at 18,655 and the nifty gained 39 points to trade at 5,511.

In the broader markets, the midcap index added 0.7% and the smallcap index gained 0.5% in the opening trades.

All the sectoral indices started in the green with gains of at least 0.2%. Capital Goods, Consumer Durables, Power, Realty, Bankex and Health Care indices gained 1-1.7%.

Also, Asian stocks rose and gold hit a near three-month high while the dollar nursed losses on Monday, extending a move started late last week when a steep drop in U.S. new home sales tempered expectations the Federal Reserve will soon reduce stimulus.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.3%, adding to Friday's 0.8% gain. Tokyo's Nikkei climbed 0.3%.

Back home, the only stocks among the Sensex-30, in the red were ONGC, Sterlite, TCS and Reliance Industries, down 0.1-0.8%.

L&T, Wipro, Coal India, Tata Power, Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto, HDFC Bank, NTPC, BHEL and Sun Pharma up 1.5-2% were the top gainers in opening deals.

The market breadth was positive. 622 stocks advanced while 178 stocks declined on the BSE.