Markets remain firm

The markets are doing well in noon trades. The Sensex is at 16,530, up 114 points and the S&P CNX Nifty is at 4,949, up 30 points.

The Sensex had opened at 16,585 and has touched a high of 16,678 and a low of 16,443 thus far.

The first quarter GDP growth dipped to 7.7% compared to 9.3% during the same quarter of the previous year. Manufacturing sector growth came in at 7.2% vs 12.7% on a y-o-y basis. Industrial growth stood at 5.1% and the farm sector grew at 3.9%, according to the government data.

Back to the markets, Tata Steel was the top gainer among the Sensex stocks. The stock gained nearly 5% to Rs 469. DLF, Sun Pharma, Reliance Industries, J P Associates, Bharti Airtel, Hero MotoCorp, Hindalco and HDFC gained 1.5-4% each.

On the other hand, ONGC was the top loser. The stock shed 4.4% to Rs 263 after the the company’s board approved documents for a planned share sale through follow-on-offer (FPO). Larsen & Toubro, ITC, Tata Power, Bajaj Auto, Sterlite Industries, NTPC and Maruti Suzuki were also among the laggards on the benchmark index.

Most of the sectoral indices were trading in the green. The BSE realty index was the top sectoral gainer, up 45 points or 2.7% to 1,723. The metal index advanced nearly 2% to 11,870. Bankex, IT, Oil & Gas, Consumer Durables and Auto indices also advanced 0.5-1% each. At the same time, Capital Goods, PSU and FMCG indices were among the losers, down 0.4-0.6% each.

DLF, Peninsula Land, Sobha Developers, Unitech, Parsvanath Developers, Indiabulls Real Estate and Anant Raj Industries were the top gainers from the realty pack. Among the capital goods stocks, Larsen & Toubro was the top loser. It was followed by Thermax, Alstom Projects, Bharat Electricals, BHEL and Lakshmi Machine Works.

The broader markets were trading on a firm note. The BSE mid-cap index advanced 38 points to 6,222 and the small-cap index gained 28 points to 7,081.

The overall breadth was positive as 1,539 stocks advanced while 1,034 stocks declined.