Sensex up 76 points amid cautious trades; Bajaj Auto races ahead

Bank, consumer durables and realty stocks are among the prominent gainers on the major Indian bourses where the mood remains fairly bullish today thanks to a firm global trend and on expectations.

However, the indices are off their highs now with a section of investors treading cautiously and taking some profits ahead of announcement of results by Reliance Industries. FMCG, healthcare and oil stocks are mostly subdued. Automobile, capital goods and power stocks are faring reasonably well. Midcap and smallcap stocks are having a good session.

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At 16,719.68, nearly 60 points off the day's high of 16,777.67, the Sensex is now up 75.94 points or 0.46% over its previous closing mark. The Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange is up 23.10 points or 0.46% at 5041.50, off the day's high of 5054.60.

Bajaj Auto is up 6.5% at Rs 1563 thanks to strong buying at the counter. ICICI Bank is up by over 5.5% at Rs 840.60. Hero Motocorp is up nearly 4% and Jindal Steel is up with a gain of 3.2%, while NTPC, Wipro, BHEL and State Bank of India are trading higher by 2% - 4%.

DLF and Tata Power are up more than 1.5% at Rs 214 and Rs 106, respectively. Cipla, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Steel and Bharti Airtel are up with modest gains.

ITC is down by about 2.5%. The FMCG major has posted a net profit of Rs 1700.98 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2011 as compared to Rs 1389.08 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2010. Total income increased from Rs 5665.41 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2010 to Rs 6532.96 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2011.

Coal India, Maruti Suzuki and ITC are down 2.6% - 3.2%. Mahindra & Mahindra is down with a loss of 2.3% and Hindalco is trading lower by about 1%. ONGC, Tata Motors, Larsen & Toubro and Infosys are down with modest losses. Reliance Industries (Rs 784) is down marginally.

Adani Enterprises is down 7.2%. Sun TV Network, Jet Air India, Dish TV India, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Apollo Hospitals, HDIL, Educomp Solutions, Indraprastha Gas and GMR Infrastructure are also down in negative territory with sharp losses.

Reliance Power is trading lower by over 2.5%. The company has informed BSE that the 3960 MW Sasan UMPP being developed by it is progressing well and is expected to be commissioned in January 2013, much before its bid schedule.

Indiabulls Real Estate has rallied to Rs 65, gaining 11% in the process. Amtek Auto, Voltas, Pantaloon Retail, Shree Renuka Sugars, Titan Industries, Federal Bank, Shree Renuka Sugars, Bank of India, Central Bank of India , Axis Bank, Yes Bank, Aurobindo Pharma, Opto Circuits and Cummins India are up 3.5% - 6%.

Exide Industries is up 3.3% at Rs 125. The company has posted a net profit after tax of Rs 104.30 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2011 as compared to Rs 124.42 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2010.

Praj Industries reported standalone net profit of Rs 21.50 crore for quarter ended December 2011 against Rs 13.66 crore in the same period a year ago. Net sales were at Rs 219.25 crore as against Rs 148.22 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal. The stock is down nearly a percent at Rs 84.15 at present.

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Hindustan Construction Company reported net loss of Rs 130.40 crore for quarter ended December 2011 as compared to net profit of Rs 7.94 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal. Total income from operations stood at Rs 949.23 crore in December 2011 quarter as against Rs 1027.50 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago. The stock is down nearly 3% at Rs 21 now.

NIIT is up more than 4% at Rs 44.50 after it said that its consolidated net profit for the quarter ended December 2011 climbed to Rs 40.7 crore, up 215% year-on-year.