Markets remain firm led by financial shares

BSE Metal index has spurted by almost 3% followed by counters like Banks, Realty, PSU and Oil & Gas, all gaining by 2% each

Benchmark indices continue to remain firm amid strong global cues, along with financial shares leading the gains. Markets gained momentum after comments by the US Fed allayed fears of soon-than-expected easing of monetary stimulus measures and gains in the Indian rupee.

By 14:25 PM, the Sensex zoomed by 386 points at 19,681 mark and the Nifty surged by 118 points at 5,935 levels. The Sensex and the Nifty have touched an intraday high of 19,725 mark and 5,949 levels, respectively.

Japan's Nikkei share average rebounded on Thursday in choppy trade even though the yen's rally paused, while firmer Asian stocks boosted market sentiment.  The Nikkei rose 0.4% to 14,472.58, after opening 1.0% lower on the back of the yen's surge against the dollar. Index heavyweight Fast Retailing gained 1.8% and buoyed the benchmark. The broader Topix was almost flat at 1,194.77.

Financial markets have recently sold off on concerns that the Fed may begin to scale back its $85 billion a month bond-buying programme as soon as September. But Bernanke's remarks, which played down the strength of last week's June payrolls report, prompted investors to reassess the risk of an early end to the Fed's programme. They cut long dollar positions and sent US Treasuries higher.

European markets too have opened firm with CAC, DAX and FTSE gaining over 1%.

Back home, the rupee is trading at 59.66/67, falling sharply from a more than one-week high of 59.32 hit in opening deals as importers rushed in to buy the dollar.

On the sectoral front, BSE Metal index has spurted by almost 3% followed by counters like Banks, Realty, PSU and Oil & Gas, all gaining by 2% each. Apart from Consumer Durables, all the major BSE sectoral indices are trading in green zone.

Shares of metal companies are in focus on the bourses by surging up to 6% as the dollar fell and weak Chinese data stoked hopes of monetary easing in the world's largest consumer of the industrial metal.

Hindalco Industries, Sesa Goa, Sterlite Industries, Coal India, JSW Steel, Tata Steel, NMDC, Jindal Steel and Power and Hindustan Zinc are trading higher by 3-6% on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

Tata Steel is trading firm after the company said its Indian operations have seen a strong volume growth during the first quarter (April-June) of the current fiscal.

Hindalco Industries rallies after its overseas subsidiary Novelis Inc. raised the price of all automotive aluminum sheet products sold in Europe.

Financial shares have gained on bargain hunting at lower levels after recent losses. HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC and SBI are up 1-4% each.

Software major Infosys has spurted by over 1.4% ahead of results this Friday that will kick-start the first-quarter earnings season. TCS has gained by nearly 3%.

Bharti Airtel has risen by nearly 3%. The company expressed shock and disappointment at receiving a demand notice of Rs 650 crore from the Department of Telecom (DoT) pertaining to its subscriber local dialing (SLD) service between 2002 and 2005.

Larsen and Toubro (L&T) is trading higher by over 2% on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Shares of engineering major have tuned ex-bonus today.

Other notable gainers are Hero Moto, ONGC, ITC, Tata Power, NTPC and GAIL.

Among other shares, Kalindee Rail Nirman (Engineers) has rallied 8% to Rs 66 after Jupiter Metal made an open offer to acquire 30% stake in the company for Rs 24.17 crore.

State Trading Corporation of India (STC India) has dipped nearly 10% to Rs 95 in noon deals on BSE, after the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved disinvestment of government stake in the company.

The market breadth in BSE remains healthy with 1,319 shares advancing and 891 shares declining.