Markets trade firm, realty shares rally

Markets extended morning gains bouyed by realty and FMCG shares. The S&P CNX Nifty was up 55 points, at 5,529 and the benchmark Sensex advanced 175 points, at 18,408.

----------------------------Updated at 09:30 hrs

Markets edged higher in opening trades tracking positive cues from Asia and gains in banking shares. The S&P CNX Nifty was up 23 points, at 5,504 and the Sensex advanced 90 points, at 18,326.

Among individual stocks RCom (Reliance Communication) and ONGC (Oil & Natural Gas Corporation) declined after they reported a sharp drop in quarterly profit. RCom fell 1.2% to Rs 87 after annual net profit slumped 71% to four year low, at Rs 1,346 crore on account of larger than expcted depreciation, higher tax outgo and interest costs of Rs 2,200 crore. ONGC declined 2% to Rs 272 after fourth quarter net profit fell 26% at Rs 2,791 crore due to rise inthe subsidy burden which offset profits from higher oil & gas prices.

Analysts expect markets to remain volatile ahead of the fourth quarter GDP data.According to the Reuters poll March quarter growth is seen around 8.2% y-o-y unchanged from the previous quarter.

Going forward markets may remain in absence of any fresh cues. Technical Analyst Devangshu Datta said, “The short term trend has consolidated slightly, but the intermediate and long term trend appears to be down.”Datta said the Nifty is holding above support of 5,400 and is testing resistance above 5,500.

Across Asia markets were trading higher on Tuesday Morning. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average was up 1.2% after industrial production bounced back in April, up 1% after the output fell 15.3% in March. Hong Kong's Hang Seng extended gains spurred by financial, commodity and power utility shares. China’s Shanghai Composite was also up 0.2%.

BSE Realty shares were on the firm ground, the index was up 1.3%. Top gainers were Orbit Corporation, up 2.7%, Anant Raj Industries advanced 2.4% and Ackruti City gained 2.1%.

BSE Oil & Gas shares were laggard in trade, down 0.1% dragged by ONGC, down 2% and Cairn India, down 0.2%.

From the broader markets, the midcap and the smallcap indices were up 0.6% each.

Top gainers on the Sensex were DLF, up 2%, Wipro advanced 1.5% and HDFC added 1.2%. Among the losere were Mahindra & Mahindra, down 1.4%, Hindalco fell 0.7% and Cipla slipped 0.5%.

Market breadth was positive, 1020 stocks advanced for 420 stocks which declined.