The S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 indexes extended gains in noon deals driven by a strong buying interest in auto and information technology shares. Better than expected corporate earnings in December quarter and hopes of bold economic reforms in the upcoming Budget is bolstering the investors’ sentiment, analysts said. The Sensex rose as much as 324 points and Nifty 50 index moved above its important psychological level of 14,600.
As of 1:12 pm, the Sensex was up 256 points at 49,654 and Nifty 50 index climbed 83 points to 14,603.
Strong corporate earnings by tech heavyweights like TCS, Infosys, Wipro and HCL Technologies along with HDFC Bank is keeping the sentiment bullish on Dalal Street, analysts added.
Fourteen of 19 sector gauges compiled by the BSE were trading higher led by the S&P BSE Auto index’s 2 per cent gain. IT, Industrials, Capital Goods, Energy and Consumer Discretionary Goods & Services indexes also rose over a per cent each.
On the other hand, S&P BSE Utilities, Metal and Power indexes were trading lower.
Mid- and small-cap stocks were witnessing buying as the S&P BSE MidCap index rose 0.74 per cent and S&P BSE SmallCap index advanced 0.55 per cent.
Tata Motors was top Nifty gainer, the stock rose over 6 per cent to Rs 274 on the back of heavy volumes. Wipro, Adani Ports, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tech Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, Asian Paints, Infosys, UPL and HCL Technologies also rose between 1-3 per cent.
On the flipside, Shree Cements, NTPC, GAIL, Grasim, Power Grid, ITC, HDFC, HDFC Bank and Hindalco were among the losers.
The overall market breadth was marginally positive as 1,541 shares were advancing while 1,331 were declining on the BSE.