Sensex rises more than 100 points in early trade; Infosys jumps 3.5%

Trading got off to a bright start on the Indian bourses this morning with investors tracking a firm trend in Asian markets and picking up several blue chip stocks in early trades. Expectations of rate cut announcements from state-run banks following the Finance Minister's call to them late last week appear to be aiding sentiment to a notable extent.

The BSE benchmark Sensex, which spurtd to 17,815.76, is currently up 88.10 points or 0.5% at 17,779.18. The broader 50-stock Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange is up 25 points or nearly 0.5% at 5391.30.

Information technology stocks are among the top gainers. Mirroring strong gains posted by sector majors, the BSE IT index has moved up by nearly 2.5% now. The BSE Teck index, which has several IT stocks in its fold, is up nearly 2%.

Infosys is up on strong buying at the counter following the company winning a harassment case filed by its employee Jack Palmer, after a US Judge dismissed his claims and threw out the case on Monday.

Automobile, power, oil and realty stocks are also finding good support. Select bank and consumer durables stocks have edged higher. Metal, healthcare, FMCG and capital goods stocks are a bit subdued.

Information technology heavyweights Infosys (3.5%), Tata Consultancy Services (2%) and Wipro (1.3%) have rallied smartly. HCL Technologies is up marginally.

Among other IT stocks, Mphasis, Oracle Financial Services, Tech Mahindra, Financial Technologies, Rolta India, Polaris and MindTree are trading notably higher.

Tata Motors is up nearly 2%. Mahindra & Mahindra has notched up a gain of 1.5%, while Bajaj Auto and Maruti Suzuki are up by a little over 1%. Hero Motocorp, however, is trading weak.

Cipla, GAIL India, Tata Power, BHEL, Reliance Industries, NTPC and HDFC are up with notable gains. ONGC, ICICI Bank and State Bank of India are up marginally.

IDFC, DLF, Ambuja Cements, Reliance Infrastructure, Power Grid Corporation, Ranbaxy Laboratories and SAIL are all up in positive territory with smart gains.

Hindalco, Siemens, Kotak Bank, Sterlite Industries, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Punjab National Bank, ITC, Bank of Baroda, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Tata Steel and Cairn India are trading weak, losing 0.3 to 1.5 percent from their previous closing levels.