Sensex ends above 17,000

Benchmark share indices extended gains on Wednesday, shrugging off weak European cues, with the Sensex ending above 17,000 led by index heavyweights Reliance Industries and Infosys along with Tata Motors.

The 30-share Sensex provisionally ended up 53 points at 17,049 and the 50-share Nifty ended up 25 points at 5,152.

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(Updated at 14:39 hrs)

Markets continue to maintain momentum in late noon trades led by gains in index heavyweights Reliance and Infosys. The Sensex is up 101 points at 17,097 and the Nifty is up 30 points at 5,158.

According to Somil Mehta, senior Technical Analyst (Equity) with Sharekhan, Nifty is expected to continue the rally in the medium term but in the short term 5,200 is a very crucial resistance, so in the short term it is expected to correct till 5,000 and then move up again."

Meanwhile, the broader markets have outperformed the benchmark indices. The BSE mid-cap index is up nearly 1% to 5,817 levels and the small-cap index has jumped 63 points to 6,401 levels. IL&FS Transportation Network is the top gainer from the mid-cap space, up 8.2% to Rs 197. Sintex Industries, Sintex Industries, SCI, Surobimdo Pharma, SREI Infra, KSK Energy and Tata Teleservices have also jimped, 5.7.5% each. From the small-cap sector, Indosolar, Zensar Technologies, Parekh Aluminex, Indo Rama Synthetics, APL Apollo Tubes and Clas Refinery are the top gainers.

Metal stocks are also witnessing buying in trades today. The BSE metal index is the top sectoral gainer, up 1.5% to 11,327. NMDC, Tata Steel, Bhushan Steel, Sterlite Industries, Coal India and SAIL are among the top gainers, up 2.2-4% each.

IT index has also advanced 1.3% to 5,642 levels. Hexaware Technologies, Mphasis, Tech Mahindra, Financial Technologies, TCS and Infosys are among the top gainers.

Capital Goods are facing a bit of selling pressure. The BSE capital goods index is down 0.3% at 10,177. Bharat Electricals, Siemens, Alstom Projects and BEML are among the losers.

Among the other Sensex stocks, Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki, SBI, index heavyweight Reliance Industries, Bajaj Auto, HDFC, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma and DLF are also among the gainers.

On the other hand, Jindal Steel, ICICI Bank, Tata Power, Larsen & Toubro, Hero MotoCorp, Cipla, ONGC and BHEL are among the laggards.

Shares of sugar companies are in limelight in noon deals after the government issued permits to mills to export 5,92,036 metric tons of the sweetener, reports suggest. Among individual stocks, Balrampur Chini Mills, Shree Renuka Sugars, Bajaj Hindustan and Triveni Engineering are trading higher by 5-6% each on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Jay Shree Tea has tanked 8% to Rs 102 after reporting a 97% year-on-year (y-o-y) drop in net profit at Rs 0.65 crore for the quarter ended December, due to higher raw material and traded goods cost.

Kirloskar Oil Engines has moved up 5% at Rs 148 after the board of directors of the company approved a buy back of equity shares at a maximum price of Rs 170 per share through open market purchase.

The overall breadth is positive as 1,741 stocks are advancing while 999 are declining.