Markets gain fourth straight week

Markets ended higher on Friday registering fourth straight weekly gain on the back of  aggressive buying from foreign institutional investors who injected $1.54 billion this month so far.

The 30-share Sensex ended up 134 points at 17,211 and the 50-share Nifty ended up 45 points at 5,203.
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(Updated at 14:31hrs)

The markets continued to trade positive in late-noon trades with the BSE Sensex at 17,214, up 137 points and the Nifty at 5,200,  up 42 points.

Earlier in the day, the benchmark index touched the day's high at 17,259 and the day's low at 17,107.

On the sectoral front, BSE Oil & Gas, Consumer Durables and Metal indices are leading the gains, having advanced 2-3% each.

From the Oil & Gas space, Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) has gained nearly 4% after the company announced that the share buyback programme will begin from February 1, 2012. The stock plunged last week on reporting disappointing numbers in the quarter ended December 2011. Other notable gainers from the pack are Gujarat State Petronet, Cairn India, Gail (India) and Indian Oil Corporation, up 2-3% each.

Titan Industries, Blue Star, Gitanjali Gems and VIP Industries, up 3-4% each, are the prominent gainers from the Consumer Durables' space.

Metal stocks like Sterlite, Tata Steel, Hiundalco and Hindustan Zinc have surged between 3-7% after LMEX, a gauge of six metals traded on the London Metal Exchange (LME), rose 2.4% to close at $3,777 on January 26. The Metal index has rallied almost 5% so far in a week on reports that the U.S. Federal Reserve was ready to offer additional stimulus, a move that could lift economic growth and demand for industrial metals.

IT stocks like Infosys and TCS have gained by nearly 2% each. Technology stocks rose after the Fed indicated that it would keep rates in the US at ultra-low levels until late 2014 to support US economic recovery. US is the biggest outsourcing market for the Indian IT firms. 

BSE Realty, FMCG and Bankex indices are trading in the red.

Sterlite Industries, Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries and Tata Steel, up 4% each, are the prominent gainers on the Sensex. The losers from the pack are Bajaj uto, Jindal Steel, Hero MotoCorp, DLF and BHEL, down 2-3% each.

The overall market breadth is positive as 1,702 stocks have advanced against 1,084 declining ones, on the BSE.