Markets gain momentum

The benchmark indices have jumped in the past hour, largely buoyed by strength in index heavyweight Hindustan Unilever. The Sensex is quoting at 18,658, higher by 126 points and the Nifty is at 5585, up 34 points. The midcap index is at 6905, higher by 33 points and the smalcap index is at 8394, up 52 points.

Hindustan Unilever has soared by 5% at Rs 298 to emerge as the leading gainer on the BSE, extending its previous sessions's rally of more than 3%, after reporting a net profit of Rs 569 crore for the quarter ended March 2011 compared with Rs 581 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal and recommending a final dividend of Rs 3.50 per share for the financial year ended March 31, 2011.

Among the other index heavyweight gainers, RCom has zoomed by 3.3% at Rs 92 after being battered by as much as 10% last week on renewed fears surrounding the 2G investigations. And the metal pack is also witnessing selective buying, with Sterlite jumping by 2.8% at Rs 173 and Hindalco gaining by 1.8% at Rs 206.

On the other hand, the banking space is not seeing any respite in selling pressure. HDFC Bank has weakened by 0.4% at Rs 2270 to be the top loser on the BSE and ICICI Bank is flat, with a negative bias, at Rs 1081.

The market breadth is strong. Out of 2142 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 1257 advancing stocks as against 776 declines.