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The BSE Small-cap has emerged as the top performer among the sectoral indices as foreign institutional investors continue to focus on fundamentally sound shares in the broader market that are available at attractive valuations.
At 1:45PM, the 30-share Sensex was up 72 points at 25,714 and the 50-share Nifty was up 19 points at 7,683.
The BSE Small-cap index was up 1.1% and the Mid-cap index was up 0.5%.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) who have pumped over $12 billion (Rs 70,276 crore) in Indian equities year-till-date (YTD), have increased their stake in more than 150 mid-and small-sized companies during the April - June 2014 quarter. A bulk of their investment, nearly 50% of inflow thus far, has been allocated to the mid-and small-caps in the June quarter.
The Indian rupee was trading higher at Rs 60.22 against Friday's close of Rs 60.28 tracking losses in the US dollar compared to other Asian currencies. However, upside gains in the rupee are likely to be capped on dollar demand from importers.
Asian markets came off their intra-day highs and were trading mixed with Japanese stock market remaining closed on account of Marine Day. The Shanghai Composite was down 0.2% and shares in Hong Kong were trading 0.3% lower. However, shares in Singapore were trading with positive bias with the benchmark Straits Times trading with marginal gains.
European shares were also trading with marginal losses as the geopolitical tensions in Ukraine continued to weigh on investor sentiment. The CAC-40, DAX and FTSE were down 0.3-0.7% each.
The BSE Small-cap index was the top performer among the broader indices up 1.3% while the Mid-cap index was up 0.9%.
Financial Technologies (India) has surged 5.3% to Rs 282 after the company announced that it has entered into a share purchase agreement (SPA) to sell its 15% stake in Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) to Kotak Mahindra Bank for Rs 459 crore.
Greenply Industries was up nearly 12% at Rs 900 extending its Friday rally which was triggered after the company posted robust Q1 results. Greenply Industries' net profit surged 33.9% to Rs 30.23 crore on 7.5% growth in net sales to Rs 516.74 crore in Q1 June 2014 over Q1 June 2013.
Other small-cap gainers on the BSE include, Hercules Hoists, Goodyear India, Force Motors and Granules India among others.
In the Mid-cap segment, Multi-Commodity Exchange was the top gainer up 11% at Rs 873 after Kotak Mahindra Bank planned to buy 15% stake in the company from Financial Technologies (India).
Other Mid-cap gainers include, Delta Corp, Century Textiles and Suzlon Energy among others.
Reliance Ind came off its day's highs amid profit taking and was up 2.4% contributing the most to the Sensex gains. The company reported a better-than-expected 14% year on year (yoy) jump in net profit at Rs 5,957 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2014 (Q1). Analysts on an average had expected profit of Rs 5,462 crore for the quarter. The company had profit of Rs 5,237 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.
Axis Bank is trading 1% higher at Rs 2,017 ahead of April-June (Q1) quarter earnings today.
Other Sensex gainers include, HDFC, ITC and ICICI Bank among others.
Among other shares, Suzlon Energy rose nearly 5% to Rs 26 on the BSE on the reports following government's move to re-introduce the accelerated depreciation scheme for the wind energy sector.
Market breadth continues to remain strong with 1,677 gainers and 1,105 losers on the BSE.
