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Markets edged higher in noon trades with the benchmark indices building on their early gains. The Nifty was hovering around its fresh all-time high of 8,150 and the Sensex was up 209 points at 27,235. Earlier in the day, the 30- share Sensex had surged to a new a record high at 27,262.25.
The gains were on account of broad based buying and crude dropping below $100 a barrel. The sentiment was bettered after Goldman Sachs raised its Nifty target to 9,000 points for September 2015. Its previous target was 8,600 points for June 2015.
Meanwhile, broader markets surged with teh small cap index up 2% and the midcap index advanced over 1%, keeping up its outperforming trend intact.
However, on the sectoral front, profit taking emerged in Consumer Durables and power pockets with the respective indices down 0.5% and 0.1%.
Among the gainers were Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has gained by nearly 3% after Bank of America Merrill Lynch upgraded the stock to "buy" from "neutral".
Cipla has climbed nearly 1% after the company announced that Medispray Laboratories, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company at its board meeting held on 05 September 2014 approved the acquisition of two manufacturing undertakings worth Rs 100 crore.
Shares of L&T have gained nearly 1% to Rs 1,623 on the BSE after the company said its wholly owned subsidiary L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering (LTHE) has secured new orders in the offshore and onshore segments worth Rs 1920 crore from domestic oil and gas majors.
Hindalco, HUL, HDFC Bank, Sesa Sterlite, SBI, TCS and Wipro up 1-3% were the other prominent gainers.
The market breadth was positive on BSE. 1,979 stocks advanced while 959 stocks declined.
Global Markets
Asian stocks were trading mixed. Key benchmark indices in Hong Kong and Singapore were off 0.2% to 0.22%. Key benchmark indices in Japan and Indonesia rose 0.15% to 0.69%. Markets in China, South Korea and Taiwan are closed for a holiday.
According to a government report today, 8 September 2014, China's exports rose 9.4% in August from a year earlier, down from a 14.5% rise in July. Imports slid 2.4% in August from a year earlier, after a 1.6% drop in July. China's trade surplus with the rest of the world widened to a record of $49.8 billion in August, from $47.3 billion in July.
Japan's economy shrank an annualised 7.1% in April-June from the previous quarter, revised down from a preliminary 6.8% contraction due to weaker-than-expected capital spending, the Cabinet Office said today, 8 September 2014 in Tokyo.
