Markets firm in noon deals
Auto, metals among the top gainers
Markets continue to trade on a firm note in the late noon deals on the back of sustained buying visible in the auto, metal, oil&gas and realty stocks. The Sensex advanced 89 points to 19,454 and the 50-share Nifty was up 26 points at 5,923.
According to Shubham Agarwal, Head, technical equities and associate vice- president, Motilal Oswal Securities, "On the upside 5,950 is an important hurdle and the Nifty is likely to consolidate till this level is not crossed on the upside."
“If Nifty closes above 5,950 then we would look at the buy side trades. While, on the downside 5,830 is an important level to keep a tab on. If the Nifty closes below these levels then the trailing stop losses of long trades will get triggered," adds Agarwal.
Meanwhile, the Asian markets were also trading on a positive note as signs of progress in resolving the U.S. "fiscal cliff" budget crisis and expectations of more aggressive monetary stimulus from the Bank of Japan lifted riskier assets.
The Hang Seng was up 132 points at 22,62, Nikkei jumped 237 points to 10,160 levels, Straits Times was up five points at 3,162 and the Taiwan Weighted advanced 34 points to 7,677.
Back home, Tata Motors advanced over 3% to Rs 307 extending its past four days gain after the company's UK subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover reported a stronger-than-expected November sales.
The stock has outperformed the market by surging 10% in past one week compared to about 4% gain in auto sector index. The benchmark Sensex rose less than 1% during the same period.
Bajaj Auto, Maruti Suzuki, ONGC, Tata Steel, TCS, Cipla, Sun Pharma, Sterlite Industries and BHEL were teh other notable gainers which added 1-3%.
On the other hand, HDFC, ICICI Bank, Larsen & Toubro, ITC, HUL and NTPC were the losers among the Sensex-30.
All the sectoral indices barring capital goods and FMCG are trading higher. The BSE auto index was the top gainer, up nearly 2% followed by Realty, metal, oil & gas, healthcare which was up nearly 1-1.5% each.
Among the individual stocks, Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers (RCF) was trading higher by 2.5% at Rs 57 on reports that the government may divest their stake through offer for sale to meet the minimum public shareholding requirement.
The overall breadth was positive as 1,580 stocks advanced while 1,170 stocks declined on the BSE.