(RTTNews) - After a flat start, the India market is trading higher in early trading Wednesday, led by gains in the public sector, consumer durable, metal and auto sectors. However, gains are modest and trading remains choppy due to Thursday's expiry of current month derivative contracts.

Currently, the BSE Sensex is trading near the day's high at 17,191, up 60 points and the S&P CNX Nifty is at 5,105, up 14 points or 0.28%.

The BSE mid-cap and the small-cap indexes are up around 0.80% each, outperforming frontline stocks. The market breadth on the BSE is also extremely positive, with 1325 gainers versus 606 losers.

Among the top gainers, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hero Honda Motors, Maruti Suzuki, Sterlite Industries, Tata Steel and, Tata Motors are up over a percent each.

On the flip side, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma,Tata Power, Reliance Infrastructure, TCS, DLF and Hindalco Industries are trading in the red.
Market heavyweight Reliance Industries is up by nearly a percent on reports it has restarted selling automobile fuels at 900 gas stations.

Unitech is up 1.25% on reports it will raise $700 million via a FCCB issue. Welspun Gujarat Stahl Rohren is gaining 2.26% after it completed successfully a $250-million capital raising. Astec Lifesciences is trading at Rs.86.15 on its market debut.

Jindal Steel & Power is up by a percent after it announced the setting up of a 1,600-megawatts hydro power plant in Arunachal Pradesh. Videocon Industries is rising 1.19% on reports it may sell a 25% stake in its power arm to private equity firms.

Maytas Infra is up 0.82% after its new promoter ILFS announced the schedule for an open offer to buy an additional stake in the company at Rs.112.80 per share. Strides Arcolab is adding 3.16% after it termed reports about General Atlantic buying a stake in the company as speculative.

by RTT Staff Writer

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