Sensex off day's high; broader markets outperform

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Consistent buying in leading sectors like banks, capital goods and metals helped the market stay higher since early trade. However, fall in index heavyweight Reliance Industries capped gains to some extent. The Nifty rose 41 points to 5,366.55. Meanwhile, the Sensex was up 130.34 points at 17,735.30.

Rashesh Shah, Chairman and CEO, Edelweiss Group thinks that the rally is driven by global liquidity and it is likely to remain high in the next three to four months.

Frontliners like SBI, DLF, Sterlite Industries, L&T, BHEL, Jaiprakash Associates, Ambuja Cements and Siemens topped the buying list today, rising 2-4%.

However, Tata Power tanked 2%. Reliance Industries, NTPC and GAIL were down 0.5%.

The market breadth remains strong; about three shares gained for every share falling on the National Stock Exchange.

The broader markets outperformed benchmarks - the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices surged 2%.

In the second line shares, India Infoline shot up 20% and DB Realty rose 15.5%. Unitech, Blue Star and Voltas jumped 8-11%.

Smallcap stocks like Sandur Manganes, Kolte-Patil, Claris Life, Federal-Mogul and Adhunik Metalik were up 11-20%.

At 10:32 hours IST : Nifty holds 5350; banks, metals, capital goods stocks lead

The Nifty retained its position above the three-month high level of 5350, following rallies in banks, capital goods and metals stocks. Realty, FMCG and auto stocks too were supporting the market. Major Asian markets like Shanghai, Nikkei, Hang Seng and Straits Times were up 0.5-1%. The NSE benchmark was up 52 points at 5377.55 and the BSE benchmark rose 172 points to 17,777.12.

Axis Direct's Nilesh Shah said the market will move up further and one has to be stock-specific at this stage. The market has been rising since January, shooting up over 18% from the December 20 (2011) lows of 4531 on the back of inflows of foreign money, .

Banks took the rally further as the Bank Nifty jumped 1.5% to 10,292. Shares of India's largest lenders SBI and ICICI Bank rose 3.3% & 1.8%, respectively. HDFC Bank was up just 0.7%.

Capital goods majors L&T and BHEL moved up 1.3-1.6%. Technology majors TCS, Infosys and Wipro gained 0.5-1.4%.

Auto stocks too were on buyers' radar - Tata Motors, M&M, Maruti and Hero Motocorp were up over 1%. Shares of DLF topped the buying list, rising above 4%.

Metals stocks like Tata Steel, Sterlite Industries, Hindalco and Jindal Steel climbed 2-3%.

The broader markets had outperformed the benchmarks; the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were up 1.7% & 1.9%, respectively.

More than three shares advanced for every share falling on the BSE.