Nifty holds 6,050 mark; broader markets outperform

Gains were led by index heavyweights Infosys and Reliance Industries

Benchmark indices continue to trade higher, amid firm Asian cues, led by index heavyweight like Infosys and Reliance Industries.

By 10:15, the 30-share Sensex was up 81 points at 20,393 and the 50-share Nifty was up 25 points at 6,062.

Adds Mohit Gaba, Independent technical analyst & trader, “The Nifty is moving higher in a sluggish manner, as long as it trades below 6100 we should assume that this is a reactive up move and we could see further down side.”

Meanwhile, foreign investors bought 107.5 million rupees worth of Indian shares on Thursday to snap their five-day selling streak totaling $542 million in secondary markets, provisional exchange and regulatory data shows.

On the global front, Asian shares regained a measure of stability on Friday, stepping further away from five-month lows after a strong rally on Wall Street and hopeful signs the upcoming US payroll report could put some global growth concerns to rest.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.7%, a day after the index posted its biggest gains in over two months. The index bounced 2.0% from a five-month low hit on Wednesday.

Japan's Nikkei also rose 1.7%, extending its rebound from a four-month low hit earlier in the week.

Mainland China shares fell 0.2% from a week ago after the week-long lunar New Year holiday.

Back home, the rupee is trading at 62.36 per dollar vs previous close of 62.38.

Cadila Healthcare, CESC, Corporation Bank, Hexaware Tech, JK Lakshmi Cement, RCom, Sun TV Network and Tata Power will unveil their third quarter earnings today.

On the sectoral front, BSE Metal, Healthcare and Realty indices have gained by over 1% followed by counters like Banks, Capital Goods,  Power and Oil & Gas, all gaining by nearly 1% each. Apart from FMCG, all the major BSE sectoral indices are trading in positive zone.

The main gainers on the Sensex at this hour include Tata Steel, Sesa Sterlite, Sun Pharma, Maruti Suzuki, Axis Bank, De Reddy’s, Tata Power and ONGC.

Tata Power Company has gained ahead of its Q3 results today

On the losing side, Coal India, ITC, Hindalco, M&M and HDFC Bank have declined between 0.2-1%.

Among other shares, Patel Engineering has rallied 9% to Rs 65.20 on BSE after the company said it has bagged new construction projects amounting to Rs 1,110 crore.

Ambuja Cements has gained 1.48% to Rs 158.10 after net profit rose 49.31% to Rs 316.50 crore on 5.19% decline in total income to Rs 2297.62 crore in Q4 December 2013 over Q4 December 2012.

Apar Industries has lost 6.54% to Rs 120, with the stock extending Thursday's 4.82% fall triggered by the company reporting poor Q3 earnings.

Aurobindo Pharma has rallied 6% to Rs 525 after reporting over four-fold jumped in consolidated net profit at Rs 417 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2013 (Q3) on back of strong operational income. The pharmaceutical company had profit of Rs 92 crore in the same quarter previous fiscal.

The broader markets are outperforming the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices have gained between 0.6-1%.

The market breadth in BSE remains positive with 1,158 shares advancing and 425 shares declining.