Nifty hovers around 6,280; Tata Power up 3%

Gains in ONGC, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank and Infosys help the markets remain in green

Benchmark indices continue to hold on to its early gains ahead of the expiry of monthly derivative contracts later in the day. At 1415 hrs, the Sensex up 45 points at 21,077 and the Nifty continued to hover around the 6,280 levels.

The ones leading the gains in noon deals were ONGC, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank and Infosys.

However, the broader markets inched higher in the noon deals with the smallcap index up nearly 1.5% and the midcap index gained 0.7%, both outperforming the BSE benchmark index which was up merely 0.2%.

Rupee

The rupee is trading weaker at 61.97 versus its close of 61.79/80 on Tuesday, with dollar demand from oil firms hurting. Traders expect exporters to step up dollar selling around 62-62.05 levels, limiting very sharp gains from current levels.

Sectors and Stocks

On the sectoral front, Consumer Duranles and Power indices up 1% each were the top gainers followed by Metal, Capital Goods, Bankex, FMCG and Teck indices up 0.3-0.7%.

Tata Power up 3% and ONGC up 2.3% were the top gainers among Sensex-30.

Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, NTPC, Sun Pharma and HDFC Bank up1-1.5% were the other notable gainers.

Among the ones in the red were auto majors like Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and Maruti Suzuki down over 0.4-1.3%.

Reliance Industries, Dr Reddys Lab, Hindalco, Cipla and TCS too were in the negative territory, down 0.2-0.7%.

Shares of state-run oil marketing companies gain after a media report said the petroleum ministry was planning to propose a hike of 5 rupees in diesel prices.

Shares of Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum Corp and Bharat Petroleum Corp were trading 2-3% higher.

The market breadth was very positive on the BSE. 1573 stocks advanced while 844 stocks declined.

Asian Markets

Tokyo's Nikkei share average climbed to a more than six-year high, driven by buying from retail investors as tax-free investment accounts aimed at driving Japanese savings into stocks kicked off.

The Nikkei ended 1% higher at 16,174.44, its highest since November 2007, while the broader Topix index was up 1.7% at 1,279.34, with 2.66 billion share changing hands, hitting its highest in four sessions.

On the other hand, Chinese shares closed down on Thursday on worries over liquidity conditions after the central bank declined to inject funds into the money market.

The Shanghai Composite Index closed down 1.6% while the CSI300 index of the top Shanghai and Shenzhen listings dropped 1.7%.

Hong Kong markets were closed for Christmas.