Post session - Quick review

Protracting gains for the third consecutive session, barometer gauges accumulated a lot of traction on sustained buying by funds and retail investors. In contrast to the quiet global peers. Domestic developments kept the market eventful with gains, albeit ina low volumes as trade of not even a lac crore was happened in the second session of the holiday shortened week.

Sentiments from the start of the trade remained bullish on hopes of rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) at its upcoming policy review meet, which apart from banking shares, buoyed other rate sensitives too. However, traction also came from Oil & Gas counters, which soared after Auto LPG prices were hike by Rs 6/litre. The 30-share barometer index of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) -Sensex- rounded up the firm session of trade with gains of over century of points or over half a percent. The profit booking which occurred in the wee hours of trade mainly took the barometer index below its 17600 level. However, some recovery did emerged towards the end of the trade as some investor’s initiated buying at dips, but that could not aid the benchmark in reclaiming its lost 17600 bastion.

Some cable stocks managed to steal the show towards the closing of the trade. As the reports emerged that the Government’s proposal of for increasing the foreign direct investment in the sector from 49% to 74 % may be accepted soon. Stocks like Hathway Cable, Network TV 18, etc all firmed up towards the end of the trade. Although bulls were active across the sector, but stocks from Consumer Durable (CD), Capital Goods (CG) and Metal space, led the way of the gains, however, disappointment came from the stocks belonging to Health Care, Auto and Information Technology stocks. Both IT and Auto stocks almost ended flat with negative bias. The broader indices for the second consecutive session outperformed the larger peers, as both midcap and smallcap index sneaked out gains of over a percentage points.

The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty, after appearing at sniffing distance of 5400 crucial level, retreated to end a little above the 5350 bastion. Meanwhile, airline stocks also hogged limelight as Spicejet soared 11% after writing into Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), seeking permission to directly import aviation turbine fuel (ATF). SpiceJet is the first airline to make such a move, after the government in end-February issued the notification allowing private airlines to import jet fuel or ATF directly,

The trade which started on a perky note ended equally well. The sentiment at Dalal Street from the inception of the trade remained optimistic tracing mostly positive global cues. Asian stock markets ended mostly higher Tuesday on signs of strength in a gauge of US manufacturing, with Hong Kong stocks rebounding after a four-day losing streak, while Japanese stocks declined on a strengthened yen.

However, European shares inched lower after recording their biggest daily gain in three weeks in the previous session, with mining stocks among the biggest losers after jumping in the previous session on strong US manufacturing data.

Back on the home turf, the BSE Sensex gained 107.42 points or 0.61% and settled at 17,585.57. The index touched a high and a low of 17,664.10 and 17,570.01 respectively. 20 stocks advanced against 10 declining ones on the index (Provisional). The market breadth on the BSE ended positive; advances and declining stocks were in a ratio of 1765:1052 while 118 scrips remained unchanged. (Provisional)

The BSE Mid-cap index gained 0.90% while Small-cap index was up by 1.19%. (Provisional)

On the BSE Sectoral front, Consumer Durables up 2.04%, Capital Goods up 1.59%, Oil & Gas up 1.41%, Metal up 1.25% and PSU up 1.09%were the top gainers while Health Care down 0.56%, Auto down 0.22%, IT down 0.08% and TECk down 0.01% were the only losers.

There top gainers on the Sensex were Hindalco Industries up 3.09%, Sterlite Industries up 2.83%, L&T up 1.92%, ICICI Bank up 1.90% and SBI up 1.52% while, Hero MotoCorp down 2.39%, Maruti Suzuki down 2.23%, Sun Pharma down 1.09%, Bharti Airtel down 1.01% and TCS down 0.95% were the top losers in the index. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, reeling under the pressure of high international oil prices, the state owned oil companies have decided to hike auto Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) prices yet again by a substantial Rs 6 per litre, the third hike in a year. Auto LPG will now cost Rs 49.72 per litre as against Rs 43.65 per litre last month.

Oil firms revise auto LPG rates every month based on average of international benchmark prices. For the past month, crude oil has remained above the $120 per barrel mark, necessitating the hike in prices.  Auto LPG prices were hiked by almost Rs 3 per litre on March 1 when rates were increased from Rs 40.7 per litre to Rs 43.65 a litre.

Cooking gas, or LPG used in households is yet another item on which oil firms are losing a record Rs 570.50. The current price of LPG hovers around Rs 400 a cylinder. Oil companies are typically reimbursed by the government on the losses they make, but this leads to ballooning of the subsidy bill of the government. Of late the government has been criticized for its huge subsidy bill which has led to a large fiscal deficit. Estimated LPG subsidy for FY12 is Rs 27,000 crore. 

India VIX, a gauge for market’s short term expectation of volatility lost 4.16% at 20.01 from its previous close of 20.88 on Monday. (Provisional)

The S&P CNX Nifty gain 35.40 points or 0.67% to settle at 5,353.30. The index touched high and low of 5,378.75 and 5,344.45 respectively. 35 stocks advanced against 15 declining ones on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Nifty were JP Associates up 4.66%, Cairn India up 3.96%, Hindalco Industries up 3.50%, Sesa Goa up 3.14% and Sterlite Industries up 3.02%.On the other hand, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down 2.55%, Hero MotoCorp down 2.49%, Maruti Suzuki down 2.26%, TCS down 1.52% and Reliance Power down 1.47% were the top losers. (Provisional)

The European markets were trading in red, with France's CAC 40 down 0.42%, Germany's DAX down 0.11% and Britain’s FTSE 100 down 0.19%.