Sensex up 279 points as mood remains bullish

After a splendid rally that saw the Sensex vaulting to 18,186.19, up nearly 340 points from its previous closing mark, the market has retreated a bit now due to profit taking in some blue chip stocks.

Still, following a firm close in Asian markets and a steady trend across the European region, the mood remains quite buoyant on the bourses now. Expectations of rate cuts following a significant fall in inflation, heavy inflow of funds from FIIs and some impressive results from India Inc are contributing to the upbeat mood today. The approval for a stake sale in ONGC is also aiding sentiment to an extent.

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At 18,127.45, off the day's high of 18,186.19, the Sensex is now up 278.88 points or 1.56% over its previous closing mark. The Nifty is up 90.95 points or 1.68% at 5507, slightly off the day's high of 5522.85.

Realty stocks are having a great outing today with investors indulging in some frenzied buying at several counters amid hopes of a reduction in interest rates. Automobile stocks are also up sharply, due largely to impressive quarterly results from Tata Motors.

Capital goods, consumer durables and bank stocks are also mostly up with impressive gains. Metal, information technology and power stocks are having a good outing as well. Healthcare stocks have edged higher after a subdued display earlier in the day, while FMCG and oil stocks are moving in a slightly lackluster way.

Tata Motors, up 7.2%, remains the top gainer in the Sensex. DLF has moved up by nearly 5.5%. Larsen & Toubro is up with a gain of 4.5%, while ICICI Bank and Mahindra & Mahindra are trading higher by around 3.3%.

GAIL India, Maruti Suzuki, BHEL, Coal India and Sterlite Industries are up 2.5% - 3%. HDFC Bank, ONGC, Infosys, State Bank of India, Bharti Airtel, HDFC, Tata Consultancy Services and Tata Power are up by 1.5% - 2%. Bajaj Auto, Jindal Steel and Tata Steel are also trading notably higher.

Unitech reported consolidated net profit of Rs 55.22 crore for quarter ended December 31, 2011 as compared to Rs 111.36 crore in the same period a year ago. Total income decreased to Rs 547.32 crore from Rs 677.89 crore in the same quarter last fiscal. The stock is up 5.8% at present.

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Sunteck Realty, up by over 10%, is the top mover in the Realty index. HDIL, Parsvnath Developers, Oberoi Realty, Sobha Developers, Prestige Estates and Anant Raj Industries are also trading notably higher.