Oil & gas, telecom, banks and capital goods stocks have led the Nifty index to close above the 5600 mark. The index has gained 42.85 points or 0.77% at 5,607.15. Meanwhile, the BSE benchmark Sensex rose 139.26 points or 0.76%, to end at 18,428.61.

Index heavyweights and oil & gas majors Reliance Industries and ONGC rallied 3% & 3.7%, respectively.

Telecom stocks like Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications rose 3%. Among banks, SBI and ICICI Bank climbed 1-1.5%; HDFC Bank went up 0.67%.

Capital goods major BHEL retained its top position in the buying list for the whole session, rising 4.8%. However, L&T fell 0.4%.

In the metal space, Tata Steel and Hindalco moved up nearly 3% while Sterlite Industries tanked 3.5% post sources claimed that Vedanta is looking to merge Sterlite and Sesa Goa.

Technology stocks like Infosys and Wipro declined 0.5% & 1.5%, respectively; while TCS gained 0.4%.

The broader markets outperformed benchmarks – the BSE Midcap Index was up 0.9% and Smallcap up 1.2%.

BSE Realty, Metal and Power indices have surged by nearly 2%. However, Consmuer Durable sector has declined by over 1%.

BHEL is the top Sensex gainer, up 4% on reports that the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) will impose import duty at the rate of 20% on the power generation equipment for projects above 1,000 megawatts (MW).

From the Metal space, Tata Steel, Hindalco, Jindal Steel and Sterlite have gained between 1-3%.

ONGC has rallied 4% on reports that the overseas investors have assured the government they would buy up the proposed 5% stake sale in the company.

Auto stocks like Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto and M&M have gained between 0.5-2%.

Among banking segment, SBI and ICICI Bank have incrased between 1-2%.

The broader markets continue to outperform the benchmark indices. BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices have gained between 0.8-1.2%.

The Nifty, at 9:47 AM, is at 5588, up by 67 pts or +1.2%.

SBI has continued to rally, from its previous gains. The stock has further added 4.2% to trade at 2447. ICICI Bank is another major gainer on the index. The stock has gained 2.5%. PNB is up by 1.5%.

Coal India, has recovered from yesterday’s blues, and is up by 2.2%. Sterlite has further gained by 3.7%. Hindalco has added 1.6%, while Tata steel is also up by 1.5%.

IDFC has gained 4.2%. RCOM is up by 2.8%.

L&T has further added to the gains and is up by 2.7%. So is JPAssociates, which is trading at 87.55, with 2.8% gains. Punj lloyd is up by 2%.

Power major NTPC is up by 1.7%.

Most of the sectoral indices have also dropped into red with realty, auto and metal shares leading the fall. BSE consumer durables has slipped 1% to 6,380. OIl & gas, auto and realty indices are down half a per cent each. Meanwhile, the power index has added 2% to 2,311.

Coal India has slipped 3% to Rs 329. Sun Pharma, Hindalco and Sterlite have shed 2-3% each. Reliance Industries has slipped 1.7% to Rs 822 on continued fears of a dip in production from the KG-D6 basin.

Tata Motors has slipped 1.5% to Rs 282 after its 7% rally on Wednesday. DLF, Mahindra & Mahindra and TCS are also down in trades.

Meanwhile, BHEL has gained 3% to Rs 627, followed by BHEL, Cipla, Tata POwer and NTPC.

The Nifty has quickly surpassed the 5500 mark. It has been a very good run up to the 5500 mark in a short duration of time. Expectations from the budget, good earnings numbers and lower inflationary figures have fuelled in the rally.

At 12:13 PM, the Nifty is at 5503, up by 88 pts or 1.6%.

Tata Motors, continues to remain the top gainer on the index. The stock has shot up by over 7% in today’s trade, following the result announcement for the previous quarter. This has made the other auto stocks also to trade with strong positive bias. Maruti is up by 3%. M&M has also moved up by 4%.

Many other stocks have seen good gains. Unitech is beaming with 6% surge, while L&T is up by 4.4%. Suzlon energy is up by 4.8%. Sterlite industries, from the metal space, has also shot up by 4%.

Index heavy weight RIL, is however trading in the red with 1% cuts.

The BSE auto index is the biggest gainer in early trades and is up 3% at 10,295. Realty, capital goods, bankex and metal indices have moved up 1-2% each.

Tata Motors is the top contributor to the Sensex’s upmove. The stock is up 6.3% at Rs 285. Tata Motors, the country’s biggest automobile manufacturer, on Tuesday reported a 41 growth in consolidated net profit at Rs 3,405 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2011, as robust sales at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) helped improve margins.

ICICI Bank and Larsen & Toubro, together accounts for over 50 points rally in the Sensex.

Meanwhile, Reliance has slipped marginally to trade flat at Rs 848.

Among individual stocks, Unitech has advanced 4% on reporting 50 per cent drop in consolidated net profit for the third quarter ended December 2011.

A panel of ministers will meet on today to discuss selling shares in state-run ONGC and BHEL. ONGC is up 0.6% at Rs 278 while BHEL is trading up 1.7% at Rs 269.

At 9:44 AM, the Nifty is holding on in the green with 8 points higher at 5398 (up by +0.16%).

Banking major SBI has moved up smartly in the opening trade. The stock is up by 3.8% and is trading at 2210. Other banking stocks have also followed. ICICI Bank is up by 1% while PNB is up by 1.6%.

Other stocks in the green are Tata Motors – up by 1.7%, L&T – up by 1%, BPCL – up by 1.9% and IDFC – up by 1.5%.

Punj LLoyd has recorded a gain of 2.8%.

Power stocks have lost sheen in the trade. Powergrid and NTPC are down in the red. Suzlon has continued its slide, and is down by 2%.

IT stocks are also trading soft. The CNX IT index is in the red. Infosys is down by 0.4%, Wipro down by 0.5%, while TCS has seen 0.3% cuts.

GujNRECoke, from the ore segment, has lost over 3%.
Jubilant Food Works (JUBLFOOD), is up by 3%.

Rate sensitives – BSE bankex and realty indices have dropped into the red. The realty index is down 2% in opening trades at 1,851. Bankex and capital goods indices have slipped 0.4% each.

Meanwhile, the healthcare index has added 0.8% at 6,401. OIl & gas and auto indices have added 0.7% each.

Sun Pharma has gained 2.3% at Rs 554. Coal India, ONGC and Reliance have added over 1% each. From the auto space, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hero MotoCorp and Bajaj Auto have advanced 1-2% each.

Meanwhile, DLF has slipped 3% to Rs 223. DLF is under pressure on account of a 45 per cent drop in the December quarter net. The company and its subsidiaries have received an additional tax notice of 1,137 crore for the 2009-10 assessment year. SBI, Bharti Airtel and Wipro have dropped around 1% each in trades.

Among individual stocks, Tata Power has slipped 1.5% to Rs 109 today on reporting a 40.7 per cent drop in consolidated the December quarter net profit.

The Nifty opened at 5343, down by 24 pts or -0.32%.

Hindalco ahead of its quarterly numbers is down by 3%. Tata steel is down by 1.3%. Sesagoa has also opened down.

IT giants Infosys & Wipro have also opened in the red.

Telecom major Bharti continues to trade down by 1%. The stock was beaten down in yesterday’s trade.
ACC has opened down. JPAssociates is also down by 1%.

On the winning side, Cairn is up by 1.8%. Powergrid has opened up by 1.8% gains. Bajaj Auto is up by 0.8%.

The trades have opened quiet even in the midcap segment. The CNX Midcap Index is down by 0.7%.

Thomas Cook (THOMASCOOK) is up by 10%. HMT Limited is up by 5%. Gammon Infra (GAMMNINFRA) is up by 8%. Manappuram Gen Finjance is up by 3%. Essar Ship (ESSARSHPNG) is up by 7.7%. Jubilant Foodworks (JUBLFOOD) is up by 2.5%. Orchid Chemicals down by 2.7%.

The Nifty closed at 5372, up by 38 pts or +0.7%.

Reliance Capital & Reliance Infra were the star trades. Reliance capital closed by making nearly 10% gains. The stock closed at 410.85. Reliance Infra also closed with 7% gains.

JPAssociates was up by 4% in the trade, while Punj lloyd recorded a 2% upmove.

Coal India (COALINDIA), RCOM, BPCL, IDFC – had all recorded gains of 2% each.

Hindalco was a big gainer with 5.4% gains.

Midcap stocks also witnessed big moves.
HDIL was up by 8.5%. Educomp solutions had moved up by 7%. Titan industries witnessed 4.5% surge.

Index heavyweight ONGC was down by over 1%, after it announced its results for the previous quarter. The company announced a decline in the profits in the quarter ended in December.

Another major impact with the results was with Bharti Airtel. The stock was down by 6.8% by close. The company came up with its quarterly results which disappointed the markets.