After opening on a flat note, the Sensex continued to trade strong on account of heavy buying action witnessed across frontline stocks including DLF and Reliance Capital.

The BSE Sensex hit one-month high above the 9,700-mark on hopes that the interim budget will contain fiscal incentives to perk up sagging growth.

Realty stocks gained the most on hopes the forthcoming interim budget may include sops to the housing segment. The BSE realty index surged 5.89%, the most among sectoral indices on BSE.

Other sectors surged up included banking, consumer goods and auto stocks, while FMCG stocks went down.
Buying action triggered by foreign funds also bolstered the overall reaction.

BSE Midcap and Smallcap index rose 1.48% and 1.45% respectively.

Global stocks remained mixed as investors turned watchful after President Barack Obama’s administration delayed an declaration of a key financial recovery plan.

At 01:14 p.m., the 30-share index Sensex was trading up 110.89 points at 9,694.78 after hitting a high of 9,724.87 and a low of 9,558.47.

In the meantime, the broad based Nifty stood at 2,942.50, up 22.60 points, after touching a high of 2,957.40 and a low of 2,908.

The overall market breadth was positive with 1,440 advancements as against 813 declinations.

The top gainers in the 30-share index were DLF (6.83%), Reliance Capital (5.10%), Reliance Communications (4.33%), Mahindra & Mahindra (3.90%), HDFC Bank (3.73%), and Maruti Suzuki India (3.31%).

On the other hand, the major losers in the Sensex were Bharti Airtel (1.25%), ITC (0.93%), Hindustan Unilever (0.52%), ACC (0.42%), NTPC (0.30%), and Tata Motors (0.28%).