Markets gain in morning trades, autos lead

Broader markets underperform

Markets advanced in the morning trades with the Sensex up 50 points at 19,630 and the Nifty gained 10 points at 5,948 on the back of gains in HDFC Bank, TCS and L&T.

Meanwhile, broader markets continue to languish in the negative,. The midcap and the smallcap indices were down 0.1% each.

Oil & Gas, Health Care, PSU and Metal indices were the only sectoral indices in the red. Capital Goods, Auto, Consumer Durables add on to their opening gains, up 0.6-0.9%.

Among individual stocks, Shasun Pharma tanked nearly 9% to Rs 89 after the company reported 67% fall in its net profit which came in at Rs 8.2 crore. The company had posted a profit of Rs 24.6 crore during the same quarter previous year.

Venus Remedies soared 9% to Rs 270 after reporting a robust 56% year-on-year (yoy) jump in net profit at Rs 16.06 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2012 (Q3) on back of higher

Great Eastern Shipping soared 5% to Rs 253 in morning deals after reporting over two fold growth in consolidated net profit which came in at Rs 192 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2012 (Q3), due to foreign exchange gain and lower interest cost. The shipping company had a profit of Rs 89 crore in a year ago quarter.

Indiabulls Financial Services dipped nearly 6.5% to Rs 278 in the opening deals after the company said that it plans to raise upto Rs 450 crore via share sale.

The market breadth was negative on the BSE. 1085 stocks declined while 958 stocks advanced.