SENSEX RECLAIMS 28,000; MARUTI SUZUKI UP 3%, L&T UP 2 %

• Market extended gains after the first hour of trade led by capital goods major L&T while auto shares firmed up post their December sales numbers.The 30-share Sensex was up 172 points at 28,060 and the 50-share Nifty was up 48 points at 8,444.
• L&T was up over 2% while BHEL gained 0.3%.
• Infosys was up 0.4% ahead of its third quarter earnings on Friday. TCS was up 0.8% and Wipro gained 1.2%.
• Maruti Suzuki was up over 3% after the company reported 21% grwoth in sales during December 2014 compared to the same month last year. Among other auto shares, Tata Motors, M&M, Hero MotoCorp and Bajaj Auto were up 1-2% each.
• Index listed metal stocks are trading mixed.  Sesa Sterlite and Tata Steel have gained 0.8% and 1.7% each while Hindalco has shed around 0.3%.
• HDFC, Dr Reddy's Labs, Bharti Airtel and NTPC were trading marginally lower.
• Among other shares, Shares in Ashok Leyland has surged 6% to Rs 56.50, also its record high on BSE, after the company said it has reported 48% year-on-year jump in total sales at 9,290 units in December 2014. Auto major had sold 6,275 units during the same month of 2013.
• Auto stocks are in focus today as the release of sales volume data for the month of December has commenced. Tata Motors has gained around 2%. On Friday, Tata Motors reported a 10% increase in total sales at 41,734 units in December, as against 37,836 units in the same month last year.
• Among other auto stocks, Hero Motocorp and M&M have gained around 0.8% and 1.5% each.
• BSE Auto index, up 1.5%, has gained the most followed by BSE Consumer Durables index, up 1.2% and BSE Capital Goods index, up 1.1%.  BSE IT, Power and Teck indices have lost around 0.3% each.