By IANS,
Mumbai : Indian equities markets, which started on a firm footing Thursday morning, dipped a bit as investors booked profits. But around noon, a key index was still ruling 1.13 percent higher than its last closing figure.
The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which had opened at 12,064.51 points, was ruling at 12,088.19 points, 135.44 points or 1.13 percent higher than its previous close.
Similarly, the S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) was ruling at 3,662.7 points, 1.04 percent higher than its last close.
Broader market indices were also trading in the positive terrain, with the BSE midcap index gaining 1.83 percent, while the BSE smallcap index was up 1.47 percent.
Of the 13 sectoral indices on the BSE the indices for IT and FMCG stocks lost the most.
The market breadth was positive with 1,269 stocks advancing, 796 declining and 90 remaining unchanged.
Top gainers included Sterlite, up 4.99 percent at Rs.477.50; Hindalco, up 4.36 percent at Rs.65.85; Tata Motors, up 3.39 percent at Rs.273; and HDFC, up 3.24 percent at Rs.1,805.15.
Losers around this time included Mahindra and Mahindra, down 2.33 percent at Rs.519; ACC, down 1.98 percent at Rs.627.70; Grasim, down 1.71 percent at Rs.1,770.50; and TCS, down 1.42 percent at Rs.626.05.
In other Asian markets, the Nikkei, a key index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, closed on a high gaining 408.33 points and shut shop at 9,385.7 points. The Hang Seng, Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s primary index, was ruling 132.47 points higher in the green at 16,967.04 points.
All three major US stock indices ended Wednesday in the green with the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 101.63 points or 1.21 percent from its previous close to 8,512.28 points.
The broader Standard and Poor’s 500 Index gained 15.73 points or 1.74 percent, to 919.53 points, while the Nasdaq moved up 0.28 percent or 4.98 points to 1,759.10 points.