Markets up over 2% led by metal shares

Markets continue to trade with strong gains in noon deals on back of broad-based buying. The Sensex is up 324 points at 15,842 and the Nifty is up 102 points at 4,738. Earlier in the day, markets witnessed a gap up opening on back of positive global cues.

Metal stocks are among the top gainers in the Sensex. Tata Steel is the top Sensex gainer, up nearly 5% at Rs 57. Coal India has jumped 4.6% to Rs 326. DLF, Tata Motors, Tata Power, Sterlite Industries, Jindal Steel, Larsen & Toubro, Wipro, ICICI Bank and State Bank of India have also added 3-4% each.

On the other hand, Mahindra & Mahindra is the only loser, down 1.45% at Rs 664.

Among other shares, Network18 Group shares – Network18 Media and Investments (NMIL) and TV18 Broadcast – have rallied more than 17% each ahead of their board meetings today.

State-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) -Indian Oil, BPCL and HPCL are under pressure on the bourses trading lower by 2% each on reports that the government has not given a clearance to these companies for hiking petrol prices.

The company has sold total 82,278 commercial and passenger vehicles (including exports) in December 2011, higher by 22% over December 2010. Earlier, in March 2011, the company had sold total 83,363 vehicles.

All the sectoral indices are trading higher. BSE Metal index is the top gainer, up nearly 4% or 9,705 levels. Realty, Bankex, Capital Goods, PSU, IT Power and Consumer Durables indices are also trading higher by 2-3% each.

From the realty space, D B Realty is the top gainer, up nearly 5% at Rs 52. Anant Raj Industries, Godrej Properties, HDIL, Parsvnath Developers and Peninsula Land are also trading higher. Among the banking stocks, Kotak Mahindra Bank is the top gainer, up 7% at Rs 450. Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, IDBI Bank, Axis Bank, Canara Bank, Idusind Bank and Federal Bank are also among the prominent gainers.

The mid-cap and small-cap indices have also jumped nearly 2% each in trades thus far.

The overall breadth is extremely positive as 1,777 stocks are advancing while 642 are declining.