Markets near day's highs; CNX IT index tops 10,000

Markets were trading over 1% higher in late trades led by IT majors and Reliance Ind

Markets were trading near their day's highs in late trades on Monday, amid firm European cues, led by gains in IT majors after Infosys reported better-than-expected earnings and raised its dollar revenue guidance for the current fiscal. Foreign institutional investors which turned buyers on Friday also boosted sentiment.

At 2:30PM, the 30-share Sensex was up 285 points at 21,044 and the 50-share Nifty was up 75 points at 6,247.

Data released by the stock exchange showed that foreign institutional investors were net buyers in equities on Friday to the tune of Rs 68 crore. They were net sellers in four of the previous five sessions.

The rupee continued to trade near one-month highs after the US dollar remained under pressure on the back of weak US jobs data. Strong gains in equities also boosted sentiment. The Indian currency was trading at Rs 61.53 compared to its previous close of Rs 61.89.

The consumer price inflation data scheduled for release at 5:30 pm will be crucial for further near-term direction.

Asian markets were trading mixed even as the Tokyo Stock Exchange was closed for trading. The Shanghai Composite was down 0.2% after China pegged its currency to a record high. Among other shares in the region, Hang Seng pared early gains and was up 0.2% and Straits Times was trading 0.3% lower.

The BSE IT index was the top gainer among the sectoral indices up 2.6% followed by Oil and Gas, Bankex and Capital Goods indices.

Infosys continues to remain the top Sensex gainer up 3.3% at Rs 3,665 after hitting a record high of Rs 3,675. The IT major reported better-than-expected third quarter earnings on Friday and also upped its dollar revenue guidance for the current fiscal.

TCS extended gains and was up 3% ahead of its third qaurter earnings due this Thursday.

In the Oil and Gas pack, Reliance Industries and ONGC were up over 2% each after the government has officially notified the new gas pricing policy that would be applicable to all the domestically produced gas from April 2014 which will be effective for five years.

As per the new pricing mechanism, the new gas price is likely to be US$8.4/mmbtu for FY2015. Currently, gas prices are in the range of US$4.2-5.7/mmbtu for domestically produced gas.

Tata Motors was up nearly 2% after its British subsidiary Jaguar-Land Rover (JLR) has reported a strong 21% year-on-year growth in retail sales at 40,635 units for the month of December 2013.

Shares of pharmaceutical company Ranbaxy Laboratories has tanked 7% to Rs 432 in early noon deals on back of heavy volumes. According to media report, the US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) is inspecting Ranbaxy’s active pharmaceutical ingredient or API manufacturing factory at Toansa in Punjab.

In the financial space, HDFC, HDFC Bank, SBI and ICICI Bank were up 1-2% each.

In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap index was nearly unchanged while Small-cap index was up 0.3%.

Market breadth turned negative with 1,376 losers and 1,242 losers on the BSE.