Markets gain on the back of bank, auto shares

Bharti Airtel trades flat post results, PSU Oil Marketing Companies surge in noon deals

Markets have gained smartly this noon, with buying interest seen in IT and banking shares. The BSE Sensex has added 1.2% at 19,741. Nifty hit the 6,000 mark and is up 73 points at 6,003.

Broader markets are in the green as well. BSE mid-cap and small cap indices are up 0.7% each. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 876.93 crore on Tuesday as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.

From the sectoral pack, BSE IT index is leading the gainers list - up 2% at 5,709. Capital goods, realty and auto indices are up 1-1.6% each. BSE bankex has added 1.5% to 14,364 on hopes of a rate cut in the RBI policy review tomorrow.

Bharti Airtel is trading flat at Rs 320 - up half a per cent in trades. The telecom major reported 49% year-on-year (yoy) drop in its consolidated net profit at Rs 509 crore for the quarter ended March 2013 (Q4) mainly due to higher depreciation and amortization cost, net interest costs. The company had reported a profit of Rs 1,006 crore in year ago quarter. Total income from operations, however, grew 9% at Rs 20,448 crore on y-o-y basis in the recently concluded quarter.

Hindustan Unilever has slipped 1.4% to Rs 575. Gail India was down 1.4% as well, followed by BHEL, Hindalco and Tata Power.

On the other hand, Mahindra & Mahindra has surged 3% to Rs 952  after reporting a 12.4% year-on-year (yoy) growth in total sales to 64,634 units for the month of April driven by a strong growth in the tractor segment. The car and utility vehicles maker had sold 57,515 units in the same month previous year.

TCS, larsen & Toubro and SBI are up 2.5-3% each. Infosys, Cipla and Jindal Steel are up in trades as well.

PSU OMCs rose after the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas on Wednesday said that the under-recovery on High Speed Diesel (HSD) applicable for first fortnight of May 2013, effective from 1 May 2013, has declined to Rs 3.80 per litre from Rs 6.42 per litre during the second fortnight of April 2013. HPCL is up 2.3%, BPCL has gained over 1% and IOC is trading higher by 1.5%.

BSE market breadth is positive. Out of 2035 shares traded, 1090 shares have advanced while 834 shares have declined.