Benchmarks continue to log fresh high; Sensex surpasses 29,000 mark

Thursday’s session turned out to be a fabulous day of trade for the Indian equity markets, which scaled fresh highs for yet another session. Benchmark indices extended their previous session’s rally and hit fresh record high with Sensex and Nifty surpassing 29,000 and 8,750 levels respectively sustained buying by funds and retail investors. Key gauges pared most of their early gains and entered into red terrain in noon deals for a brief period, but significant recovery in dying hour of trade helped markets to end at fresh all closing time high levels.

Domestic sentiment was buoyed on buying by blue-chips, tracking a firm trend across the region and on optimism that the government will continue with the reform agenda. Sentiments also remained up-beat on report that the government may raise the limit on foreign holding of Indian corporate bonds as existing $51 billion cap could be exhausted given the surging demand for Indian fixed income securities. Some support also came after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said India is back in the reckoning at the global centre-stage and the huge build-up in positive sentiments among investors should soon start converting into real investment flows on the ground.

On the global front, European counters were trading cautiously in early deals ahead of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) policy meeting amid expectations it will announce a full-scale bond-buying program to save the euro zone economy. Asian markets ended mostly in the green on expectations that the European Central Bank at its meet later today would announce measures to boost the sagging economy in the euro zone.

Back home, some support came from report that overseas investors bought Indian shares worth Rs 2,066 crore ($334.7 million) on January 21, 2015, extending their buying streak for the fifth straight session, provisional exchange data showed. Meanwhile, shares of real estate companies edged higher after Prime Minister Narendra Modi has directed all concerned departments to immediately finalise the programme and finalise the financing models for alternate sets of housing requirements with regard to the government’s Housing for All Mission.

Stocks related to power sector too remained on buyers’ radar after Union Minister Piyush Goyal underscored the country's power sector is set for $250 billion investment across different segments. The minister highlighted that investments were expected across diverse areas of the energy sector, including in renewables, transmission and distribution segments.  However, gains remained capped up to certain extent as heavyweight Reliance Industries fell about 2 per cent on reports that the government has toughened its stand in a $1 billion dispute over the Panna Mukta and Tapti oil and gas fields

The NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index Nifty rose by over thirty points to end above the psychological 8,750 support level, while Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index -- Sensex surged by around one hundred and twenty points to finish above its psychological 29,000 mark. Broader markets too traded with traction and ended the session in the green. The market breadth remained in favor of decliners, as there were 1,347 shares on the gaining side against 1,575 shares on the losing side while 111 shares remain unchanged.

Finally, the BSE Sensex surged by 117.16 points or 0.41%, to 29006.02, while the CNX Nifty soared by 31.90 points or 0.37% to 8,761.40.

The BSE Sensex touched a high and a low of 29060.41 and 28892.23, respectively. The BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.07%, while the Small cap index was up by 0.23%.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma Inds. up by 3.65%, Axis Bank up by 3.30%, Tata Motors up by 2.70%, ONGC up by 2.01% and Cipla up by 1.73%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 2.44%, Reliance Industries down by 2.27%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.33%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.02% and ITC down by 0.64% were the top losers.

On the BSE Sectoral front Healthcare up by 1.69%, Capital Goods up by 1.12%, Auto up by 0.72%, Metal up by 0.67% and Realty up by 0.54%, were the top gainers, while Consumer Durables down by 0.96%, Oil & Gas down by 0.77% and INFRA down by 0.27% were the only losing indices on BSE.

Meanwhile, exuding confidence about foreign and domestic investors contributing in a big way to the Indian growth story, Union Minister Piyush Goyal underscored the country's power sector is set for $250 billion investment across different segments. The minister highlighted that investments were expected across diverse areas of the energy sector, including in renewables, transmission and distribution segments.

Further, giving break-up of the investment, Goyal unveiled that while renewables were set to get $100 billion, the transmission and distribution segment would get $50 billion, each. He added that another $60-70 billion were expected to be invested in power generation, including for restarting stalled projects and for new ones, while $5-6 billion were earmarked for energy efficiency projects. Besides, $20-25 billion investments has also been set aside for associated infrastructure required in replacement of old and out-dated equipments, among others.

Meanwhile, raising money for funding these investments is the last thing that the government is worried about as it has gauged a sense of excitement among the investors about the ambitious target that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set, which is to ensure 24×7 power for all households as also for the industry and the farmers.

The CNX Nifty touched a high and low of 8,774.15 and 8,727.00 respectively.

The top gainers on Nifty were Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries up by 3.62%, Axis Bank up by 3.61%, DLF up by 3.48%, Tata Motors up by 2.65% and IDFC up by 2.47%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 2.49%, NTPC down by 2.16%, PNB down by 1.50%, HCL Technologies down by 1.50% and Tech Mahindra down by 1.27% were the top losers.

Most of European Markets were trading in the red; France's CAC was down by 0.28% and Germany's DAX was down by 0.43%, while UK's FTSE 100 was up by 0.20%.

The Asian equity benchmarks ended mostly in green on Thursday, as investors awaited a European Central Bank decision on quantitative-easing strategy. Chinese shares rallied as the People’s Bank of China pumped funds into the financial system. The PBOC conducted its first reverse-repurchase operation in a year, adding money to the financial system after saying it rolled over a 269.5 billion yuan ($43.4 billion) lending facility to banks ahead of next month’s Chinese New Year holiday. Premier Li Keqiang, in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, stated that China will avoid a hard landing and will ensure an appropriate pace of growth. The nation’s economic expansion in 2014 slowed to its weakest pace in 24 years and a real-estate developer’s failure to meet an interest payment is raising the specter of a pickup in debt defaults. Japan’s central bank expects the world’s third largest economy to rebound in the coming fiscal year after contracting 0.5% this fiscal year, in an upbeat assessment that scuttled hopes for fresh stimulus. The Bank of Japan ended a policy meeting without any major change to its ultra-loose monetary policy. Japan’s All Industries Activity Index rose to a seasonally adjusted 0.1%, whose figure was revised up from -0.1%.