Markets edge higher led by IT shares; Infosys up 2%

Markets edged higher after the first hour of trade led by IT exporters after the US Federal Reserve Bank at its two-day meet which ended Wednesday remained confident that the economy is on a growth track

At 10:35AM, the 30-share Sensex was up 57 points at 27,155 and the 50-share Nifty was up 21 points at 8,111.

The Indian rupee slipped to a two-week low and was trading at Rs 61.40 compared to the previous close of Rs 61.35 after the US Federal Reserve expressed confidence about growth in the economy.

Asian markets were trading mixed with some recovering from their day's lows. Shares in Japan continue to lead the region with 0.7% gain on the back of a weaker yen. Chinese shares firmed up and the Shanghai Composite was trading with marginal gains. Straits Times was trading flat with positive bias while Hang Seng was down 0.5%.

The BSE Realty index extended gains and was up over 3% followed by IT and Consumer Durables indices.

Realty shares gained after the government has relaxed the norms for allowing foreign direct investment (FDI) in the construction development sector. It is expected the move will boost affordable housing projects and smart cities across the country. In the real estate pack Sobha Developers, HDIL, Prestige Estates, Oberoi Realty, DB Realty, Godrej Properties, DLF and Unitech were up 2-5% each.

Shares of IT exporters which earn major part of their revenues from exports to the US firmed up post US Federal Reserve Bank's encouraging comments about the US economy. Infosys, TCS and Wipro were up 1-1.6% each.

Tech Mahindra was up over 4% after its reported encouraging July-September quarter earnings backed by strong growth in the US and better client mining. The Mumbai-based company reported a net profit of Rs 720 crore for the quarter ended September, almost flat compared to the year-ago quarter, owing to increase in total expenses. Revenues for the quarter under review were ahead of expectations at Rs 5,487 crore, up 13 per cent from same period last year, largely led by growth in the telecommunications and manufacturing segments.

Oil and Gas shares also witnessed buying at lower levels after the recent correction. Reliance Industries, ONGC and GAIL were up 0.7-1% each.

Pharma shares were also among the gainers after upbeat results from Lupin and Ranabaxy. Dr Reddy's Labs, Ranbaxy, Cipla, Sun Pharma and Lupin were up 0.2-1.4% each.

Among other shares, Insecticides (India) has surged 5% to Rs 818 on BSE, ahead of the company’s board of directors meeting today to consider issue of free shares to its equity shareholders.

Gati Ltd has surged around 3.7% to Rs 206.70 on BSE after reporting a 117% increase in its net profit to Rs 12.49 crore for the quarter ended September 2014, as compared with a profit of Rs 5.76 crore in the corresponding quarter previous year. The company's consolidated income has increased by 13 per cent to Rs 414.91 crore from Rs 366.93 crore in the same period.

In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap index was up 0.1% and Small-cap index was up 0.3%.

Market breadth continued to remain strong with 1181 gainers and 903 losers on the BSE.