Markets maintain momentum; Sensex spurts around 200 points

Financials, IT and oil stocks have rallied this morning, with ICICI Bank, HDFC and Infosys being among the major gainers

The markets are going strong this morning amid the positive cues from the Asian front.

At 9:40am, the Sensex was at 27,862, stronger by 217 points or 0.7% and the Nifty was at 8,427, up 57 points.

The broader markets are also doing equally well, with the midcap and smallcap indices gaining around 0.6% each at 10,716 and 11,276 respectively.

The markets had ended flat on Tuesday, amid a volatile session of trade, to snap two successive days of gains. The Nifty had scaled its crucial psychological level of 8,400 on Tuesday before succumbing to a bout of profit-booking in the afternoon session. One would have to see if the Nifty manages to hold on to the 8,400 mark in this session.

GLOBAL MARKETS

The US stocks ended mixed, with the Dow rising marginally to a second straight record high, as Wall Street digested housing data. The Dow Jones rose 13 points to end at 18,312, while the S&P ended down 1 point at 2,127 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 8 points to 5,070.

On the Asian front, Nikkei 225 was trading higher by 0.63% at 20,151 and Shanghai index was trading higher by 0.67% at 4,457, while Hang Seng was trading lower by 0.24% at 27,625. The Kospi, SET and Jakarta indices are also trading higher between 0.5% and 1% each.

RUPEE

The rupee opened lower by 10 paise at 63.77 per dollar this morning as against 63.67 on Tuesday. The dollar continues to gain on unexpectedly better US April housing data.

SECTORS AND STOCKS

All the sectoral indices are in the green, with the exception of the metal space.

The financial stocks are going strong this morning on continuing hopes of a rate cut by the RBI at its upcoming policy review meet on June 2. Heavyweights such as ICICI Bank, HDFC, HDF Bank and SBI have jumped 1-2% each this morning. In the broader banking universe, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Yes Bank, Bank of India and Bank of Baroda have also nadded 0.5%-1% each.

The IT stocks have build on the gains of the previous session, thanks to the strengthening dollar. Infosys, TCS and HCL Tech and Tech Mahindra have added around 1% each.

The oil pack is also seeing action, with HPCL, BPCL and IOC adding 1% each. RIL has also jumped by almost 1% at Rs 903.

The metal space is, however, bucking the strong trend, with Tata Steel and Hindalco losing around 1% each.

The market breath is strong. Out of 1629 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 1191 advancing stocks as against 381 declines.