Sensex, Nifty Marginally Higher Led By Infosys, Reliance: Midday Market Update

India's benchmark stock indices traded marginally higher through midday on Tuesday, driven by gains in index heavyweights Infosys Ltd. and Reliance Industries Ltd.

As of 12:39 p.m., the S&P BSE Sensex was up 47 points, or 0.07%, at 65,675.13, while the NSE Nifty 50 rose 12 points, or 0.06%, to 19,541.20.

Media and realty sectors advanced, while metal and private banks were under pressure. The Nifty IT and the Nifty Media hit a 17-month high during the day.

Asian stocks declined after disappointing China services data added to concern over the nation’s fragile economic recovery. Australia’s dollar extended losses after the central bank kept interest rates unchanged.

Hong Kong shares led the declines after dipping more than 1%. China's services sector saw the slowest growth this year in August. Futures for European and U.S. stocks fell during Asia trading. South Korean stocks also declined after August inflation accelerated faster than economists forecast on the back of rising energy costs.

Infosys Ltd., Reliance Industries Ltd., Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Larsen & Toubro Ltd. and ITC Ltd. were positively adding to the change in the Nifty.

HDFC Bank Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd., Tata Steel Ltd., NTPC Ltd. and UltraTech Cement Ltd. were negatively contributing to the change.

The broader market indices outperformed larger peers; the S&P BSE MidCap Index was up 0.93%, whereas S&P BSE SmallCap Index was also 0.87% higher.

Sixteen out of the 20 sectors compiled by the BSE advanced, while four declined. The S&P BSE Information Technology, S&P BSE Realty and S&P BSE Oil & Gas rose the most.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of the buyers. About 2,235 stocks rose, 1,317 declined and 157 remained unchanged on the BSE.