Markets surge as heavyweights gain

Markets edged higher after a flat opening as value buying in IT and FMCG helped the benchmark indices gain in the opening hour of trade.

Gains in ITC, TCS, ICICI Bank, Sun Pharma and HDFC twins contributed to 116 points gain.

At 1030 hrs, the Sensex was up 136 points at 21,962 and the Nifty gained 31 points to trade at 6,542, edging closer to its all time highs.

Meanwhile, smallcap and midcap indices gained 0.4% each, almost in line with the BSE benchmark index.

Capital Goods, Power and Auto indices down 0.3-0.7% were the only sectoral losers.
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(Updated at 1030 hrs)

Markets opened on a flat note with a negative bias on account of weakness in index heavyweights like L&T, HDFC twins and Maruti Suzuki.

At 0918 hrs, the Sensex was down 18 points at 21,807 and the Nifty slipped nine points to start lower at 6,503.

In the broader markets, the midcap index was up 0.2% and the smallcap index was flat with a positive bias.

Investors will also be keeping an eye in the IIP data for January and CPI inflation data for February.

Global Markets

In Asia, stock markets swung lower on Wednesday as economic uncertainty in China and the United States combined with political tensions in Ukraine to keep investors cautious and commodities under a dark cloud.

Japan's Nikkei retreated 2%, continuing the see-saw pattern of the last couple of months, while Australian stocks shed 1%. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1%.

That mirrored a lacklustre performance by Wall Street, where soft data left investors no wiser on whether the economy's troubles were merely weather-related or something more fundamental.

Overnight,  U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday, with selling picking up late in the session, as investors cashed in some of the recent market gains, but the S&P 500 finished less than 1% away from a record high set last week.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.41%, to 16,351, the S&P 500 lost 0.51%, to 1,868 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.63%, to 4,307.

Sectors & Stocks

On the sectoral front, Auto, Metal and Capital Goods indices were down 0.8% each. Banking and Oil & Gas indices gave off 0.5% each in opening deals.

Defensive pockets like Health Care, FMCG, IT and Teck indices gained 0.5-1%.

Consumer Durables index up 0.9% was the other sectoral gainer.

After several days of underperformance, Sun Pharma gained 2.5% and was the top gainer among Sensex-30.

ITC, Dr Reddys Lab, Hero MotoCorp, TCS and Cipla up 1% each were the other notable gainers.

Maruti Suzuki down 2.5% was the top Sensex loser. The stock declined as mutual fund houses upped their ante against Maruti by writing another letter to the Japanese carmaker. The second letter follows an 'unsatisfactory response' by Maruti to the initial letter sent jointly by top fund houses.

BHEL, Tata Motors, L&T, ONGC, Hindalco, Tata Steel, Sesa Sterlite and Axis Bank down 1-2% were the other major losers.

Shares of Just Dial and L&T Finance Holdings gained up to 8%, after the National Stock Exchange decided to include them in the futures and options (F&O) segment from Thursday.

The market breadth was positive on the BSE. 644 stocks advanced while 614 stocks declined.