Nifty continues to trade above 5,400

Markets continue to trade on a firm note in the noon deals. The Sensex is up 200 points at 17,787 and the Nifty has advanced 64 points to 5,423 levels. Earlier in the day, the markets opened a strong note tracking global cues and the Sensex touched the intra-day high of 17,834 level.

Accoring to Ranak Merchant, Technical Analyst - Strategies, Sushil Financial Services, "Considering the events lined up in the current week, we do expect volatility to remain high. The outcome of the events would be the major driving factor for the medium term. On the upside 5,491 appears to be a resistance point for the Nifty for the current week."

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei average breached 10,000 for the third straight session before trimming gains, lifted by defensive buying as investors looked for signs of further easing from the Bank of Japan. The index is currently at 9,926, up 0.37%. The Hang Send index has advanced 1% while the Shanghai Composite index is marginally lower by 0.19%.

Back home, Sterlite Industries is the top Sensex gainer, up 5% to Rs 120. Jindal Steel, Gail India, Hindalco, BHEL, ONGC, Maruti Suzuki, DLF, Tata Steel, Reliance Industries, Hero MotoCorp and Tata Power are also trading higher by 1.5-4.5% each.

On the other hand, Wipro, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Auto, Bharti Airtel and Tata Motors are among the notable loser.

Buying is visible across the board. Metal, oil & gas and realty stocks are amongst the star performers. The BSE Metal index is the top sectoral gainer, the index has surged nearly 3% or 330 points to 11,936 levels. Sesa Goa, JSW Steel, Hindustan Zinc, Bhushan Steel and NMDC are among the topo gainers from this space.

BSE Oil & Gas and Realty indices have advanced nearly 2% in trades so far. Capital Goods, Power, PSU, IT, FMCG and Bankex indices are also up 0.7-1.7% each.

Among the individual stocks, Suzlon Energy has rallied 7% to Rs 30.25 after the world's fifth largest wind turbine maker, on Monday launched its latest 1.5 MW range turbine S8X for the Indian market, the next generation low-wind turbine focused on harnessing Class III, low-wind turbine focused on harnessing Class III, low-wind sites.

The broader markets are also trading higher by 1%. The BSE mid-cap index has advanced 66 points to 6,463 and the small-cap index is up 55 points to 6,852 levels.

The overall breadth is positive as 1,628 stocks are advancing while 1,628 are declining.