It was a surprising close for the markets as the ended with some hefty gains. It was trading in green for major part of the day but surged in the final hour of trade. Buying was seen in telecom, banking, auto, metal, oil and technology stocks. The Sensex has crossed its 17000 mark and Nifty went above 5,100 mark.

On the macroeconomic front, inflation came in at 7.33% versus 7.14%; it is more or less inline with market expectations.

Telecom stocks were star performers of the day, on the back of good Q4 earnings from Bharti Airtel, India's largest telecom player, the stock up over 6% followed by Reliance Comm and Idea Cellular, which rose 5% and 4% respectively. Bharti Airtel has reported 10.3% growth in its Q4 consolidated net profit of Rs 1,898.9 crore as against Rs 1,722 crore in previous quarter and 12.9% growth in ints revenues of Rs 7,863.7 crore versus Rs 6,964 crore (QoQ).

Hero Honda is up over 3.5% after strong set of numbers declared yesterday.

Sensex closed up 404.90 points or 2.42% at 17125.98, and the Nifty up 111.85 points or 2.24% at 5111.70.

About 1334 shares have advanced, 1538 shares declined, and 206 shares are unchanged.

The BSE Midcap Index ended at 7,056.21 up 0.7%.

The BSE Smallcap Index ended flat at 8,727.72.

The BSE Bankex closed at 8,868.08 up 3%. HDFC, HDFC Bank, IOB, ICICI Bank, Centurion bank, Axis closed in green.

The BSE Capital Goods Index closed at 13,921.87 up 1%. Suzlon, Reliance Infra, Siemens, Triveni Engineering closed higher.

The BSE Auto Index closed at 4,603.56 up 0.7%. Hero Honda, Apollo Tyres, Escorts, Ashok Leyland closed higher.

The BSE Metal Index closed at 15,735.18 up 2.4%. SAIL, JSW Steel, Jindal Steel, Jindal Stainless, Hind Zinc closed higher.

The BSE FMCG Index closed up 1% at 2,407.00. Colgate, ITC, Nestle, Marico, HUL, Dabur ended higher.

BSE Oil and Gas Index closed at 11,554.59 up 1.6%. BPCL, HPCL, IOC, Reliance Natura, GAIL ended higher.

The BSE IT Index was at 3,862.48 up o.3%. Satyam, Infosys, Tech mahindra, TCS, Wipro, Tech Mahindra closed higher.

The NSE cash turnover was at Rs 14131.57 crore and the NSE F&O turnover was at Rs 33831.87 crore. The BSE cash turnover was Rs 6022.19 crore. Total market wide turnover was at Rs 53985.63 crore. 

Sensex above 17000 mark; Bank, telecom, metal stks up

The markets are trading higher on account of buying seen in Telecom, banking, auto, metal, oil and technology stocks. The Sensex has crossed its 17000 mark. Broader markets have underperformed the benchmark indices. Midcap and small cap stocks are trading with moderate gains. Market breadth is positive. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed.

Mkt still in green but off highs: Telecom stks up

The markets are still in green but are off the highs. Telecom, banking, auto, metal, oil and technology stocks are supporting. Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, Idea Cellular and Satyam are top gainers on the bourses. Broader markets have underperformed the benchmark indices. Midcap and small cap stocks are trading with moderate gains. Market breadth is positive. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed.

Mkt trades firm: Bharti, Rel Comm, Hero Honda up

The markets continue to trade firm after some inline set of inflation numbers at 7.33%. Telecom, banking, auto, metal, oil and technology stocks are supporting. Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, Idea Cellular and Satyam are top gainers on the bourses. Broader markets have underperformed the benchmark indices. Midcap and small cap stocks are trading with moderate gains. Market breadth is positive. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed.

On the macroeconomic front, inflation came in at 7.33% versus 7.14%; it is more or less inline with market expectations.

Telecom stocks are star performers of the day, TEck Index jumped 2.5% on the back of good Q4 earnings from Bharti Airtel, India's largest telecom player, the stock up over 6% followed by Reliance Comm and Idea Cellular, which rose 5% and 4% respectively. Bharti Airtel has reported 10.3% growth in its Q4 consolidated net profit of Rs 1,898.9 crore as against Rs 1,722 crore in previous quarter and 12.9% growth in ints revenues of Rs 7,863.7 crore versus Rs 6,964 crore (QoQ).

Hero Honda is up over 3.5% after strong set of numbers declared yesterday.

BSE Bankex, Oil & Gas, Metal and Auto indices were up more than 1%. However, FMCG and Capital Goods indices were marginally in red.

Essar Oil, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Comm and Reliance Industries were most active shares on the bourses.

However, top losers were JP Associates, HUL, DLF, Tata Power and ACC.

Mkts strong: Bharti up 6% on good Q4 earnings

The markets have moved up strongly and are trading higher as telecom, banking, auto, metal, oil and technology stocks are supporting. Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, Idea Cellular and Satyam are top gainers on the bourses. Midcap and small cap stocks are in green. Market breadth is positive, 690 shares advanced while 440 shares declined. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed.

At 10:55 am, the Sensex was up 177 points at 16,898 and the Nifty up 61 points at 5,061. Midcap and small cap stocks are trading firm, indices up more than 0.5% each. About 1622 shares have advanced, 1222 shares declined, and 234 shares are unchanged.

Telecom stocks are star performers of the day, TEck Index jumped 2.5% on the back of good Q4 earnings from Bharti Airtel, India's largest telecom player, the stock up over 6% followed by Reliance Comm and Idea Cellular, which rose 5% and 4% respectively. Bharti Airtel has reported 10.3% growth in its Q4 consolidated net profit of Rs 1,898.9 crore as against Rs 1,722 crore in previous quarter and 12.9% growth in ints revenues of Rs 7,863.7 crore versus Rs 6,964 crore (QoQ).

BSE Bankex, Oil & Gas, Metal and Auto indices were up more than 1%. However, FMCG and Capital Goods indices were marginally in red.

Essar Oil, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Comm and Reliance Industries were most active shares on the bourses.

However, top losers were JP Associates, HUL, DLF, Tata Power and ACC.

At 9:58 am - The markets have opend higher on good buying support from oil & gas, power, auto, banking, technology, realty and telecom stocks. Good US cues also supported the markets. Midcap and small cap stocks were up. Market breadht is positive; 538 shares advanced while 118 shares declined.

At 9:58 am, the Sensex was up 171 points at 16,892 and the Nifty up 52 points at 5052.

Bharti, HCL Tech, Hero HOnda, Idea, HDFC Bank, TCS and Essar oil were gainers in early trade.

Essar Oil has gained nearly 5% as Gujarat HC restored eligibility to avail sales tax/VAT deferral benefits so Essar Oil is going to benefit of upto 125% on capital investments in Vadinar Refinery.

Asian markets were trading mixed.

US markets advanced but closed off Intraday highs. Dow gained 85 points to close at 12,849. Nasdaq ended 23 points higher at 2,429. While the S&P 500 closed almost 9 points higher at 1,389.

Market cues:

• Inflation data today; CNBC-TV18 poll sees inflation at 7.29% vs 7.14%
• NSE F&O May series begins with Open Interest of Rs 49,251 cr
• FIIs net sell $65.2 mn in equity

F&O cues:

• Marketwide rollover at 82% Vs 79% last time
• Nifty rollover at 71% Vs 63% last time
• Nifty Futures at 3-point premium Vs 35-point premium at beginning of Apr series
• Nifty Futures add 25 lakh shares in net Open Interest
• Nifty Open Interest Put-Call ratio at 1.39 Vs 1.31 at the beginning of Apr series
• Nifty Puts add 30 lakh shares in Open Interest
• Nifty Calls add 18 lakh shares in Open Interest
• Nifty 4900 Put adds 7 lakh shares in Open Interest
• Nifty 5000 Call adds 6.5 lakh shares in Open Interest