IT Stocks Help Markets Move Higher

The Indian markets, which opened their initial trades in a very narrow range, have started gaining some momentum and are finally trading higher. Earlier, in the initial hours of trade, the markets were almost unchanged, moving in neither direction.

Among the sectoral indices, IT has helped the markets move northwards. The index is up by over 2% as of now. The other indices trading higher are Teck, Realty and Bankex. FMCG, on the other hand, is the worst performer, down 1.39%. The Power and Consumer Durables indices are also trading lower.

The other Asian markets have also moved up to the green zone. The Hang Seng and Nikkei, which were initially trading lower, have now erased their losses and are up 0.28% and 0.01% respectively.

The European markets have opened in the green zone today, with the FTSE, CAC and DAX are trading higher by 0.40%. Market participants are speculating about some kind of positive move from Mario Draghi in the European Central Bank meet scheduled for later during the day.

Back home, IT stocks like Wipro and Infosys are trading up by 3.61% and 3.09% respectively. Jindal Steel is trading higher by 2.11% at Rs 343.10. Investors are buying the stock after it was beaten down heavily in the previous trading sessions. Other Metals stocks like Sterlite Industries, Hindalco Industries and Tata Steel are also in the green zone. Tata Power, L&T, GAIL India, HDFC, etc. are trading with minimal gains at this hour of trade.

FMCG majors ITC and HUL are still trading lower by 2.85% and 1.1% respectively. BHEL, Bharti Airtel, Hero MotoCorp, M&M and Bajaj Auto are among the other stocks that are trading lower.

The market breadth is strong as of now. On the BSE, 1267 shares have advanced, 1154 shares have declined and 150 shares are unchanged.