Markets retain gains

TCS, financials lead

Markets continue to trade higher as financials and TCS firm up in the morning deals. The BSE Sensex was up 70 points at 17,303 while the Nifty added 20 points at 5,255.

The broader markets advanced with the midcap index up 0.6% and the smallcap index gained 0.8% outperforming the Sensex which was up 0.4%.

TCS up 2% continues to the top gainer among the Sensex stocks. HDFC Bank, Cipla, Bharti Airtel and Hero MotoCorp up1% are the major gainers among the Sensex-30.

Maruti Suzuki, Infosys, Sun Pharma and Tata Motors down 0.5-0.8% were the major losers.

Among other stocks, SKS Microfinance has dipped 4% to Rs 87 after the company said it has fixed the floor price of Rs 75.40 per share for qualified institutional placements (QIP) which opened yesterday.

Shanthi Gears froze at upper circuit of 5% at Rs 63.15, its highest level since October 2008, after Tube Investments of India proposed to acquire majority stake in the company at a price of Rs 81 per share.

Market breath continued to remain positive. 1405 stocks advanced while 652 stocks declined on the BSE.
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(Updated at 9:35 hrs)
Markets opened in the green with the Sensex up 83 points at 17,316 and the Nifty gained 24 points at 5,259. The gains were led by TCS and financials.

The broader markets opened almost in line with the Sensex with the midcap and the smallcap indices up 0.4% each along with the Sensex up 0.5%

The rupee rose in line with a jump in risk assets after China's second quarter gross domestic product landed in line with forecasts.
Tthe rupee was at 55.67/69 to a dollar as against 55.93/94 last close.

In the international markets,US stocks fell on Thursday, hit by more warnings in the technology sector. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.3 per cent, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index closed 0.5 per cent lower.

Asian shares were mixed ahead of China's second-quarter gross domestic product figures which could depress risk appetite, while a Moody's downgrade of Italy's credit rating threatened to rekindle worries over Europe's debt crisis. Hang Seng,    Jakarta Composite, STraits Times and Kospi Composite were up 0.2-0.8% were the only gainers among the Asian markets.

Back home, the Nifty is likely to seek support around 5,220 – 5,205 and it can face resistance around 5,250 – 5,265 levels.

All the sectoral indices opened in the green. Bankex, Metal, capital Goods, Oil & Gas and IT was up 0.5-0.7%.

The country’s largest software firm Tata Consultancy Services gained 2.4% at 1,266 after the company reported a 37.39% jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 3,317.68 crore for the first three months of this financial year.

Gail India, HDFC Bank, Hindalco, Jindal Steel, Sterlite, Cipla, L&T and Bharti Airtel added nearly 1-2% and were the notable gainers .in the opening trades.

The only losers among the Sensex stocks were Infosys down nearly 1% and Sun Pharma down 0.1%.

The market breadth was very positive on the BSE. 1249 stocks advanced while 262 stocks declined.