Markets extend gains, Nifty hovers near 6,000

US House of Representatives passes bill to avert 'fiscal-cliff'

Indian shares extended opening market gains on Wednesday after US House of Representatives passed a bill that aims to avoid the cliff's automatic implementation of $600 billion in spending cuts and tax increases.

At 10AM, the Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex index rose 128.49 points at 19,709.54 while the National Stock Exchange's Nifty-50 index jumped 40.05 points and traded at  5,990.

By a vote of 257 to 167, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives agreed on a deal to avert "fiscal cliff".

Asian markets traded firm. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 2% to 23,062, Taiwan's Weighted index rose 1% to 7,784,  Singapore's Straits Times was up 1% to 3,200  in morning trades. Equity markets in Japan and mainland China are closed today and tomorrow for public holidays.

MSCI Asia-Pacific index outside Japan rose 1.8% to 916.07.

On the domestic front, all sectors were trading positive. Metal, real-esate, power, capital goods, autos, PSU led gains on BSE.

Among key Sensex stocks, Hero MotoCorp rose 1.6%, Maruti Suzuki was up 1.2% , in metal space, Sterlite and Hindalco gained 1.4% while Tata Steel rose 1%. In Infrastructure space, BHEL and Larsen & Toubro gained 2.2% and 1% while SBI and ICICI rose 1% on BSE.

The other notable movers include, Tata Motors which is trading higher by 1.6% at Rs 321, also its 52-week high on the BSE, after reporting total sales of commercial and passenger vehicles at 65,582 units (including exports) during December.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals is trading higher by 1.4% at Rs 546, extending its Tuesday’s 2.2% gain after the company announced the USFDA approval to Salix Pharmaceuticals for marketing anti-diarrheal drug Crofelemer.

The broader markets traded firm with mid-caps and small-caps gaining 0.6-0.8% on BSE.

The market breadth is strong as 1,349  stocks gained compared to 479 declines on BSE.