Markets extend gains on Fed comments

Markets extended gains in the afternoon session this Thursday on back of buying witnessed in capital goods and consumer durable stocks.

Global risk appetite surged after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke pledged to keep monetary policy flexible in the near-term till US economy shows signs of recovery.

At 2:10PM, the 30-share Sensex gained 88 points at 20,036 and the 50-share Nifty rose 28 points at 6,002 levels.

Asian stocks gained on hopes that the cheap money supply will continue in the near-term

Japan’s Nikkei gained 1.2% to 14,808, Singapore Straits Times rose 0.15% to 3,213, China’s Shanghai Composite index was down 1% at 2,023 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 0.1% to 21,345 today.

European shares traded mixed. France’s CAC gained 0.2% to 3,879, Germany’s DAX dropped 0.07% to 8,248 while UK’s FTSE rose 0.37% to 6,593.

Among the key sectoral indices capital goods, consumer durables, oil & gas, PSU gained while autos, metal, bankex sectors dropped on the BSE.

The gainers included counters such as ONGc rising 3.8%, BHEL gained 3.4%, Hindalco Industries rose 2.2%, Tata Power added 1.9% while Infosys was up 1.8% on the BSE.

The laggards were Mahindra & Mahindra falling 2%, Sterlite Industries shed 1.9%, ICICI Bank dropped 1.5%, HUL declined 1.4% while TCS was down 0.8% each on the BSE.

The key notable movers included counters such as Igarashi Motors, a subsidiary of Agile Electric, surged over 5 per cent in today's trade after Blackstone India announced taking over the parent firm along with its unit for Rs 660 crore.

Ajanta Pharma has moved higher by 6% to Rs 1,124 after the company said it will consider a issue of free shares to its existing shareholders.

The broader markets traded higher with mid-caps and small-caps gaining 0.2-0.3 per cent on the BSE.

The market breadth was flat. Out of 2,291 stocks traded so far, 1,020 stocks advanced while 1,113 stocks declined on the BSE.