Markets in fine fettle

The markets are going great guns as we step into the final hour of trade, on the back of a short-covering rally in the index heavyweights. The Sensex has surged by 302 points at 18,394 points and the Nifty has jumped 80 points at 5512. The midcap index is at 6813, higher by 59 points and the smallcap index is at 8421, up 58 points.

The day began on a tentative note after the volatility witnessed in the last hour of Wednesday's session, but the absence of any follow-up selling this morning seemingly led to the return of confidence among the market participants. The next 60 minutes of trade would tell if there is an encore of the last hour of the previous session or the rally still has more way to go. 

DLF has soared by 5.7% at Rs 240 to top the gainers list on the BSE for the second consecutive day. Jaiprakash Associates has added 4.3% at Rs 84 and L&T has added 3.9% at Rs 1633. And RIL has extended its previous day's gains by adding another 1.9% at Rs 939.

On the other hand, Bajaj Auto is the sole loser on the BSE, shedding 0.6% at Rs 1209.

The market breadth is positive. Out of 2890 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 1707 advancing stocks as against 1074 declines.