Banking and realty stocks buoy markets

SBI extends Friday's rally

Markets remain firm in the opening deals on the back of sustained buying visible in the banking and realty stocks. The Sensex is up 80 points at 16,241 and the Nifty is up 27 points at 4,919 levels.

On the global economic front, Leaders of the powerful G-8 countries have agreed to put their fiscal houses in order and accord priority to growth and jobs by revitalising the global economy.

Meanwhile, the Asian markets are trading on a subdued note. The Shanghai is up 7 points at 2,351, Nikkei is up 43 points at 8,654. However, the Hang Seng is down 19 points at 18,932.

Back home, State Bank of India has extended its Friday's rally post its better than expected quarterly results. The stocks is the top gainer among the Sensex stocks, up 3% at Rs 2,001. Meanwhile, the Bank of America Meryll Lynch has also upgraded the rating of this stock to 'Buy' with a target price of Rs 2,445.

Maruti Suzuki,  Jindal Steel, DLF, Hindalco, Tata Power, BHEL, Larsen & Toubro, Coal India, Sterlite Industries, TCS, Bharti Airtel and Gail India are also trading higher by 0.7-2.7% each.

On the other hand, Tata Steel is the top loser, the stock has slipped 2.5% to Rs 390 after the company reported a dip of as much as 90% in its consolidated net profit, at Rs 433.46 crore, for the last quarter of FY12. The corresponding profit figure for the same quarter a year ago was Rs 4,175.60 crore. Wipro, ITC, Bajaj Auto, Infosys, NTPC and Cipla are also among the laggards.

Among the individual stocks, Himachal Futuristic Communications Ltd (HFCL) has hit the upper circuit filter of 20% at Rs 12.69 on reports that Reliance Industries (RIL) plans to roll out its 4G network in partnership with the company.

TV Today Network has surged 17% to Rs 63.10 after the company said that Aditya Birla Group agreed to make a financial investment of 27.5% in Living Media India, India Today Group company, through its private investment company.

The BSE realty index is the top sectoral gainer, up 1.5% or 24 points at 1,580. Bankex is also up 1.2% at 10,856 levels. Capital goods, power, Consumer durables, PSU, oil & gas and healthcare indices have also opened higher by 0.5-1% each. At the same time, IT and FMCG indices are trading lower.

The broader markets are outperforming the benchmark indices. The BSE mid-cap index is up 42 points at 5,906 and the small-cap index is up 52 points at 6,307.

The overall breadth is positive as 1,254 stocks are advancing while 633 are declining.