Markets firm in late-noon trades

The markets are firmly entrenched in positive territory as we enter into the final hour of trading and the December derivatives series. Taking forward the momentum of the previous session, the Sensex has rallied another 80 points at 20336 and the Nifty has added 15 points at 6075. The midcap index is at 7690, higher by 31 points and the smallcap index is at 9544, up 33 points. The BSE benchmark had registered a strong finish on Wednesday, surging more than 200 points.

Meanwhile, the food inflation surged to a 10-week high of 14.44% for the week ended December 18 from 12.13% in the previous week due to the escalating prices of onions, fruits, cereals and protein-based products. This is the fifth consecutive weekly rise in food prices.

The rally is broad-based, with stocks from the auto, power, capital goods and IT sectors having a field day. Tata Motors has raced ahead by 1.4% at Rs 1290 to top the gainers list on the BSE. Tata Power has left from where it left in the previous session by surging by another 1.2% at Rs 1355, Bhel has spiked by 1.2% at Rs 2332 and Infosys has spurted by 1.1% to touch a new life high of Rs 3438.
 
On the other hand, HDFC Bank has skid by 1.3% at Rs 2298, Bajaj Auto and ONGC have lost 0.6% each at Rs 1471 and Rs 1294 respectively. 

The market breadth is positive. Out of 2,930 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 1,583 advancing stocks as against 1218 declines.