Sensex up nearly 250 pts; Automobile, metal stocks spurt

Thanks to sustained buying across the board, the market, which opened on a bright note on strong positive cues this morning, has moved further up north now.

Besides a positive lead from global markets, a sharp drop in inflation and a significant turnaround in industrial production appear to be triggering some hectic buying this morning.

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The Sensex is up 248.94 points or 1.54% at 16,438.30. At 4953.60, the Nifty is up 79.60 points or 1.63% over its previous closing mark.

The rupee is trading higher against the dollar amid hopes of dollar inflow following the rally in stock markets. The rupee

Realty stocks have rallied sharply in anticipation of a cut in policy rates. Mirroring sharp gains posted by key stocks in that space, the BSE Realty index has jumped nearly 3.5% now. Metal stocks are on song thanks to a firm trend in global metal prices. Capital goods, automobile, power and oil stocks are also mostly up with impressive gains.

Bank, information technology and healthcare stocks have moved up as well. FMCG and consumer durables stocks are relatively subdued. Several stocks from midcap and smallcap sections too have risen sharply. The market breadth is pretty strong.

Maruti Suzuki has rallied to Rs 1070, gaining more than 6.5% in the process. Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra are up by a little over 2%, while Bajaj Auto and Hero Motocorp are trading higher by 1.85% and 1.5% respectively.

Among metal stocks, Hindalco is up nearly 5.5%, Sterlite Industries is up almost 5% and Tata Steel is trading higher by about 3%, while Jindal Steel and Coal India are up nearly 2.5% over their previous closing levels. JSW Steel, NMDC, SAIL, Bhushan Steel, Hindustan Zinc and Sesa Goa are also up with impressive gains.

BHEL, Reliance Industries, Wipro, State Bank of India, Cipla and Sun Pharmaceuticals are up 2% - 2.5%. NTPC, Bharti Airtel, Tata Power, Hindustan Unilever, HDFC Bank and Infosys have gained 1% - 2%. ONGC, ICICI Bank and GAIL India are up with modest gains.

HDIL, up 7% at Rs 76.50, is the top gainer in the Realty index. DB Realty has gained nearly 6%. Unitech, Prestige Estates, Oberoi Realty and Sobha Developers are up 2.7% - 4.5%. Parsvnath Developers is also trading sharply higher.

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Thermax, Praj Industries, Punj Lloyd, Crompton Greaves, Siemens, ABB, Bharat Earth Movers and Alstom Projects are among the major gainers in the capital goods index, besides sector heavyweights Larsen & Toubro and BHEL. These stocks are trading higher by 2% - 4.3% now. Lakshmi Machine Works, Bharat Electronics, AIA Engineering and Suzlon Energy are also up with strong gains.