Markets have a good session

The markets sprung to life in this session after being in comatose state since the beginning of the Christmas season, thanks to a resurgence across Asia. Rollovers of existing positions on the penultimate day of the December derivatives series would have also played a part in the rally. The Sensex consolidated its hold above the psychological 20k mark and hit a 1-1/2-month high to end the session at 20,256, stronger by 230 points and the Nifty reclaimed the 6k mark to end at 6060, up 64 points. Not to be outdone, the midcap index ended at 7658, higher by 39 points and the smallcap index ended at 9511, up 106 points. All the sectoral indices ended in the green, with FMCG, metal and banking leading from the front.

Asian stocks rose, sending the MSCI Asia Pacific Index to a 2 1/2-year high for a second day, as increased oil and gold prices boosted commodities companies. Hang Seng ended at 22,969, higher by 347 points or 1.5% and Nikkei ended at 10,344, up 51 points or 0.5%. And on the European front, the FTSE, CAC and DAX have also edged higher in mid-day trades. Wall Street had erased earlier losses and ended little changed overnight as investors shrugged off a surprise weekend interest rate hike from China's central bank. The Dow settled down 20 points at 11,552, while the Nasdaq was up four points at 2,669.

FMCG was the top sectoral performer on the BSE in today's session; Hindustan Unilever soared by 3.2% at Rs 303 and ITC strengthened by 1.6% at Rs 174. In the financials space, HDFC Bank zoomed by 3.3% at Rs 2332, HDFC jumped by 2.4% at Rs 717, ICICI Bank gained 1.2% at Rs 1128 and SBI added 0.8% at Rs 2750. And the metal space saw the likes of Sterlite jumping by 3.5% at Rs 185, Hindalco gaining 1.7% at Rs 241 and Jindal Steel adding 1.1% at Rs 708.
 
On the other hand, Cipla skid by 0.8% at Rs 367, RCom lost 0.5% at Rs 138 and Wipro shed 0.3% at Rs 489.

The market breadth was positive. Out of 3050 stocks traded on the BSE, there were 1489 advancing stocks as against 1265 declines.