02 March 11.10 AM: Sensex above 10650 as rally continues

After yesterday's surge, markets are continuing the post-budget rally. Institutions, both domestic and foreign, are reportedly heavy buyers in the market. Domestic mutual funds had collected large amounts from new offerings last month.

US markets recovered yesterday, with technology stocks gaining substantially. Asian markets are mostly trading firm today.

The Sensex opened at 10597 and saw a new lifetime intra-day high of 10683, after recovering from a sharp decline soon after opening. The index is trading higher by 92 points at 10657 at 11.10 AM.

The Nifty opened at 3124 and saw a new lifetime high of 3160. The index is trading higher by 33 points at 3156.

GAIL is the biggest gainer among index stocks after Indian Oil sold a part of its holding in GAIL to a group of financial investors including FII's. The stock is trading with gains of over 4.5 per cent.

The stake sale by Kotak Mahindra group in Hutchison Essar is helping the telecom stocks. VSNL has added over 4 per cent while Bharti has gained nearly 4 per cent.

The interest in Maruti is showing no sign of a decline as the stock has added close to 3 per cent after the spectacular rise over the last 2 days.

Reports of a product price hike have driven Tata Steel higher by over 3 per cent to a new lifetime high.

PNB, ONGC, Jet Airways and ITC are the other major gainers among index stocks.

Oil marketing stocks have turned weak again led by BPCL, which has lost over 1.5 per cent. HPCL has declined over 0.5 per cent.

Technology stocks Infosys, Satyam and TCS have given up over 0.5 per cent each.

BHEL, Nalco, Zee Tele and Grasim are the other major losers among index stocks.

Mid-caps are also doing well though overall gains on the mid-cap index are lower than the frontline indices. Market breadth is positive at almost 2 shares advancing to every declining share.

Sunil Hitech Engineers got listed on the exchanges today. Issued at Rs100 per share, the stock opened at Rs110 on the NSE and saw a high of Rs165.7. The stock is now trading at Rs162.

Suryajyoti Spinning, Educomp and Mahindra Ugine are among the major gainers in mid-caps.

Steel Strips Wheels, Agro Dutch and Zodiac JRD are among the mid-cap losers.