Coal India is the top gainer in the Sensex, rising more than a percent while Asian Paints, Ranbaxy Labs, DLF and Lupin are top gainers in the Nifty, climbing 1.5-2 percent.

Country’s largest car manufacturer Maruti Suzuki’s sales declined 1.3 percent to 90,924 units in December from 92,140 units in November, impacted by lower exports.

During the same period, domestic sales climbed 1.3 percent to 86,613 units from 85,510 units whereas exports dropped 35 percent to 4,311 units from 6,630 units.

Atul Auto sold 3,510 units in December, which was higher by 23.42 percent compared to 2,844 units in November. During April-December, the company’s sales jumped 18.29 percent year-on-year to 27,908 units.

Neelkanth Mishra of Credit Suisse expects the divergence between the investment cycle and middle-income consumption on one hand and low-end consumption on the other to continue.

“Growth in the informal economy though should continue to drive wage growth for the poor. Indices have already started to reflect this divergence,” he adds.

Adani Power on Tuesday announced that its 4620 mw project at Mundra has set a record by attaining the highest generation of 4,644 MW, making it the only power station of such a gigantic size to reach a significant milestone in electricity production.

Adani Power has a thermal power generating capacity of 7,920 MW, consisting of 4620 MW at Mundra, 1980 MW at Tiroda and 1320 at Kawai. “We are confident of achieving a target of generating 9,240 MW of electricity by March 2014,” Gautam Adani, chairman said. Adani Power stock rose 1.4 percent to Rs 39.55 on the BSE.

SourceHOV LLC has appointed Morgan Stanley and Company LLC to explore various strategic options. HOV Services through its US-based wholly owned subsidiary owns stake in SourceHOV LLC. HOV Services stock gained 4.98 percent to Rs 83.25 on the BSE. There were pending buy orders of 26,350 shares, with no sellers available.

The market is listless with the benchmarks gyrating around their previous closing values as traders’ participation is very less on the first day of the year 2014.

The Sensex rose 11.49 points to 21,182.17, and the Nifty added 4.80 points to 6,308.80. About 881 shares have advanced while 313 shares declined on the BSE.

The market is likely to hit new highs in 2014, but it may not necessarily be a smooth ride getting there, says UR Bhat of Dalton Capital Advisors. In an interview with CNBC-TV18, he sees foreign fund flows into India slowing down. Also, given the changed political dynamics in Delhi after the recent elections, the probability of a stable government at the Centre after the 2014 election has reduced slightly.