Markets gain strength, banking shares lead the gains

The markets gained some strength in the past one hour of trade, on back of buying visible in the banking, metal and consumer durable stocks. The Sensex was higher by 120 points at 18,421 and the Nifty crossed the crucial 5500 mark, the index was higher by 41 points at 5523.

HDFC Bank was the top gainer on the Sensex, the stock was trading higher by 2% at Rs 2138. HDFC added 1.9% at Rs 641. Bharti Airtel, Sterlite Industries, Tata Steel, TCS, Bajaj Auto, Jaiprakash Associates and Hindalco were also among the gainers. On the other hand Tata Power, Wipro, ONGC, Hindustan Unilever, NTPC, ITC, Maruti Suzuki, BHEL and Jindal Steel were among the losers.

On the sectoral front the banking and metal stocks witnessed buying, the BSE banking index- Bankex was the top sectoral gainer, up 123 points at 12,574 and the Metal index was higher by 0.84% or 134 points at 16,129. Consumer durable, capital goods, teck, healthcare, IT, PSU and Realty stocks also witnessed some buying. FMCG and oil & gas stocks continued to reel under the selling pressure.

Indusind Bank was the top gainer among the banking stocks followed by Canara Bank, HDFC Bank, Bank of India, IDBI Bank, Bank of Baroda and Axis Bank. Among the metal stocks SAIL was the top gainer the stock was trading higher by 1.6% at Rs 165. Sterlite ndustries, Hindustan Zinc, Jindal Saw, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Welspun Corp and Sesa Goa were also among the gainers.

The broader markets were also trading with a positive bias. BSE mid and small-cao indices added 1% each at 2803 and 8341 respectively.

The overall market breadth was positive as 1668 stocks advanced while 909 stocks declined.