Sensex gains nearly 100 pts; IT shares lead

Benchmark indices maintain the upbeat trend led by IT and financial shares.  At 11:05 AM, the 30-share Sensex was up 90 points at 20,425 and the 50-share Nifty was up 23 points at 6,076.

Adds Ranak Merchant, Technical Analyst - Strategies, Sushil Financial, “Nifty corrected to levels just below its 200 day ema and staged a bounce from near the multiple support zone of near 5950 levels. The resistance zone on the upside appears to be near 6070 - 6085 levels (closing basis) where selling pressure re-emerges. A close above the said zone remains imperative for markets to continue the bounce.”

On the global front, Asian shares firmed as investors wagered the new head of the U.S. Fed would navigate her first testimony to Congress without rocking the boat for markets.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.7%, even as most of the main bourses in the region were subdued on the day.

Back home, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 455.18 crore on Monday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.

The rupee is trading steady at 62.43/44 per dollar. The unit is seen in a 62.20 to 62.60 range during the day, traders say.

On the sectoral front, BSE IT, TECk, Consumer Durables, Capital Goods and Auto indices have gained between 0.5-1.5%. BSE Realty and Power indices have declined between 0.5-1%.

IT stocks have edged higher on renewed buying. TCS, Infosys and Wipro have surged over 1%.

Tata Motors has rallied nearly 3% at Rs 375 on BSE after reporting a better than expected almost three-fold jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 4,805 crore for the quarter ended December 2013 (Q3FY2014), on back of strong demand, growth in volumes and favourable product mix and geographic mix at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR).

Other notable gainers are Tata Steel, Sun Pharma, ICICI Bank, SBI, BHEL, L&T and HDFC.

On the losing side, Bharti Airtel, Hindalco, Cipla, Hero Moto and NTPC have plunged between 1-2%.

Hindalco Industries has slipped after the company's US subsidiary Novelis reported its Q3 results on Monday, 10 February 2014.

Among other shares, Bharat Forge was up 5% at Rs 365 as the company after market hours on Monday announced plans to merge two of its subsidiaries.

Manappuram Finance has surged 8.47% to Rs 23.05 after a ratings firm revised its rating outlook on ratings of the long-term debt instruments and bank facilities of the company.

The broader markets are trading marginally positive in line with the broader markets- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are up over 0.3% each.

The market breadth in BSE remains positive with 1,039 shares advancing and 829 shares declining.