Sensex edges higher, marks highest level in nearly 1-1/2 months

Reuters
Brokers trade at their computer terminals at a stock brokerage firm in Mumbai January 6, 2015. REUTERS/Shailesh Andrade/Files

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's stock markets edged higher on Tuesday, marking their highest level in nearly 1-1/2 months, led by gains in Tata Motors(TAMO.NS) on continued optimism over the prospects of unit Jaguar Land Rover on China's auto stimulus and rival Ferrari's likely listing.

Gains were however muted as benchmark indexes saw technical resistance at their respective 200-day exponential moving average while profit-taking after four consecutive days of gains also weighed.

Caution also prevails ahead as Infosys (INFY.NS) is due to post its July-September results on Oct. 12, unofficially kicking off the earnings reporting season.

"Follow up buying is somewhat missing after recent swift moves. The trend remains positive," said Deven Choksey, managing director at K R Choksey Securities

The 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 0.13 percent higher after touching an intraday high of 27,010.27, its highest level since Aug. 21. The index rose as much as 0.84 percent.

The 50-share NSE Nifty was up 0.03 percent after rising as much as 8,180.95, also its highest intraday level since Aug. 21.

Tata Motors rose 4.9 percent, heading towards its fourth day of gains in five, on data and news pointing towards likely improvement in business prospects in India and abroad.

Among other blue-chips, ITC (ITC.NS) and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (SUN.NS) gained 1.4 percent each.

Coal India (COAL.NS) rose 2.2 percent after Credit Suisse upgraded the stock to "outperform" from "neutral" citing power distributors' restructuring and attractive valuations.

Infosys (INFY.NS) fell 2.2 percent capping the gains of broader markets on caution ahead of its July-September results on Oct. 12.

(Reporting by Abhishek Vishnoi in Mumbai; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath)