The Indian market is extending its three-day winning on Thursday, with banking, realty, consumer durable, public sector and auto stocks leading the gains, as European debt woes eased and U.S. stocks closed firm overnight. Investors, meanwhile, await data on food and fuel inflation for clues on the outlook for interest rates.
Among individual stocks, HDFC Bank, Hindustan Unilever, SBI, ICICI Bank, DLF, Hero Honda Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, NTPC, Jindal Steel and Bharti Airtel are among the top gainers.
The 30-share BSE Sensex is currently trading near the day's high at 18,783, up 116 points or 0.62% and the broader Nifty is rising by 31 points or 0.54% to 5,638.
Gujarat Pipavav Port is trading at Rs.55.50 on its debut, a 20% premium over its initial public offering price of Rs.46 per share. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, which is inching closer to take a controlling stake in Israel's Taro, is down 1.19%.
Tata Power is edging up 0.42% after it proposed to increase its capacity eightfold. NMDC is rising 1.52% on reports that it may buy a 10% stake in Australia's Riversdale Mining.
Rural Electrification Corporation is adding 1.26% on reports about its foray into banking business. SAIL is up 0.35% on divestment reports.
State Bank of Travancore is gaining 1.18% after it raised its benchmark prime lending rate by 25 basis points. Atul Auto is up 1.45% after it reported a 92% rise in its August three-wheeler sales. Tata Steel is rising 0.56% after it sought to refinance its $5 billion European debt.
Vindhya Telelinks is locked at the 10% upper circuit limit on reports that it may bag a Rs 7582 crore optic fibre network contract in collaboration with Ericsson Cables. Hindustan Unilever (up 1.86%) and Procter & Gamble (up 0.19%) are trading firm on reports they have hiked detergent prices.
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