Markets pare gains, Sensex up 50pts

The markets have pared most of their gains in the last few minutes of trade owing to weakness in Reliance and Infosys. Also, HDFC, ICICI Bank and Larsen & Toubro have pared some of their gains from the higher levels. The Sensex is now up 50 points at 18,866.
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(Updated at 1040 hrs)

Continuing with the positive momentum, the markets have rallied this morning with FMCG and auto shares leading the gainers chart. The Sensex after a soft start, owing to weak Asian cues, has now regained strength. The BSE benchmark index has rallied to a high of 18,967, and has now gained 141 points at 18,956 around 1030 hrs.

The NSE Nifty has testing its 200-DMA around 5688, after a gap of exactly two months. The index is now up 31 points at 5686.

Meanwhile in Asia, Nikkei has slipped over 1% (112 points) to 9424. Hang Seng, Straits Times and Taiwan are down around 0.7% each. Shanghai Composite, however, is up 0.7%.

The BSE Capital Goods index and Bankex have surged around 1.5% each to 13,209 and 13,106, respectively. The FMCG and Auto indexes are also up over 1% each.

ICICI Bank, HDFC and Larsen & Toubro are the key heavyweights pushing the index higher, each contributing around 25 points to the Sensex.

Hindustan Unilever and HDFC are the top gainers in terms of per centage, up nearly 2.5% each at Rs 278 and Rs 679, respectively.

Tata Motors and Larsen & Toubro have also rallied over 2% each. ICICI Bank, Reliance Infrastrucutre, BHEL, HDFC Bank and Mahindra & Mahindra are the other major gainers.

On the other hand, Sterlite has slipped nearly 2% to Rs 165. Jaiprakash Associates and Infosys are the other prominent losers.