Markets firm up led by IT, financials

After a slight correction amid profit taking in Infosys markets have firmed up led by gains in TCS and financialsestors booked profits in Infosys at higher levels

After retreating marginally in late morning trades amid profit taking at higher levels, benchmark share indices have once again firmed up led by IT majors and financial shares after the rupee strengthened against the US dollar.

At 11:50AM, the 30-share Sensex was up 230 points at 20,503 and the 50-share Nifty was up 69 points at 6,089.

The Indian rupee was quoted at 69.12 compared with the previous close of 61.39.

Gains in Infosys contributed the most to the Sensex followed by TCS, L&T, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and SBI.

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Updated at 11:15am

Markets have come off their day highs as investors booked profits in Infosys at higher levels after the IT bellwether revised its FY14 revenue guidance to 9-10% from 6-10% in dollar terms.

After a slight rise in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) in July following two months of straight contraction, IIP data for August will be released later today. No one expects too high a recovery for August, but low base of previous year could give it a bit of push.

In July, the industrial output expanded at a four-month high of 2.6%, driven by sharp rise in capital goods output. Capital goods boosted the IIP to the extent of 1.6%.

At 11:20AM, the 30-share Sensex was up 216 points at 20,489 after hitting an intra-day high of 20,559 so far and the 50-share Nifty was up 63 points at 6,084 after recording an intra-day high of 6,108.

Asian markets continue to trade firm on hopes that US lawmakers would soon come to an agreement to raise the debt ceiling and avoid a default. The Nikkei, Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite were up over 1% each while Straits Times ended up 0.7%.

Rupee continued to strengthen today as the markets hoped for Indian bonds to be part of one of the global indices soon. The move will attract more dollar flows into the country.

At 11:15am, the rupee was trading at Rs 61.24 compared with previous close of Rs 61.39 per dollar. There is also dollar flows from custodian banks, which is helping the rupee.

BSE IT index continued to remain the top gainer among the sectoral indices, up 3.6% followed by rate-sensitives such as Realty, Bankex, Capital Goods and Auto indices among others. However, Consumer Durables, FMCG and Metal indices were trading marginally lower.

Shares of information technology (IT) companies are trading firm in early morning deals on the bourses after the Infosys has revised its FY14 revenue guidance to 9-10% from 6-10% in dollar terms.

Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro, Tech Mahindra and HCL Technologies are up between 2-5% each.

Tata Motors was up nearly 1% at Rs 375 after hitting a new high of Rs 378 on the BSE, as the company’s UK subsidiary Jaguar and Land Rover (JLR) registered a better-than-expected growth of 17% year-on-year (yoy) in retail sales in September 2013, driven by the robust performance of the recently launched models and Range Rover Evoque.

Shares of private banks rebounded today after short covering at lower levels. ICICI Bank was up 2.6% and HDFC Bank was up 0.7%. SBI was up 0.9%.

Other Sensex gainers include, L&T, M&M , Maruti Suzuki and ONGC.

Among other shares, MCX extended gains and was locked in 5% upper circuit at Rs 446 after change in top management following the payment crisis at its group entity National Spot Exchange Ltd.