Sensex rises over 150 pts, Nifty strong; HDFC, Reliance lead

Moneycontrol Bureau10:58 am Market Update: Equity benchmarks continued to hold early gains. The 30-share BSE Sensex surged 182.69 points or 0.75 percent to 24618.35 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 51.80 points or 0.70 percent to 7474.25.More than four shares advanced for every share declining on the Bombay Stock Exchange.In F&O, Wockhardt added 5 percent in open interest and has seen long build-up. Adani Power's open interest declined 7 percent and saw short covering.MRF added 4 percent in open interest and has seen long build-up. UCO Bank has seen short build-up and its January Futures added 2.9 lakh shares in OI.10:40 am Mahindra Airbus JV: Taking forward the memorandum of understanding signed in July, Mahindra Defence and Airbus Helicopters inked a pact to form a joint venture to produce military helicopters in India. The statement of intent was signed on Sunday by representatives of both companies in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande. "We have made significant progress in setting up the joint venture and together the companies are creating a world-class advanced helicopter production facility in India," Mahindra and Mahindra Group President for Aerospace and Defence S P Shukla said in statement.  10:20 am Earnings Poll: HDFC Bank, the country’s second largest private sector lender, is expected to continue to report stable earnings for October-December quarter. Profit is seen rising 20 percent for the 10th consecutive quarter, to Rs 3,350 crore in Q3 compared to Rs 2,794 crore year-ago period, according to analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.

Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and interest expended, may increase 21.3 percent to Rs 6,911 crore from Rs 5,700 crore on annual basis. Analysts expect fee income to grow 15-20 percent, aiding profitability. Fee income was 70 percent of other income and was up 21 percent in Q2 year-on-year.Also read - See more downgrades in banking; go for bottom-up approach: Ambit10:00 am Market Check

The market remained strong in morning trade with the Sensex rising 173.87 points or 0.71 percent to 24609.53 and the Nifty up 52.90 points or 0.71 percent to 7475.35, tracking positive global cues.

The broader markets outperformed benchmarks with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices up 1-1.5 percent. The market breadth continued to be strong as more than five shares advanced for every share declining on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Asian markets also gained with Shanghai and Hang Seng up 1-1.8 percent, tracking a 2-2.7 percent rally on Wall Street on Friday. Crude oil prices extended gains after surge on short covering. Brent crude rose 0.7 percent to USD 32.40 a barrel.

HDFC, Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, TCS, Sun Pharma, Tata Motors and ONGC were leading contributors to Sensex's gains, up 1-2 percent while Axis Bank and Bharti Airtel fell more than 1 percent.