Post session - Quick review

Value buying took the Indian equity markets higher on Monday, which after showing signs of consolidation in the previous session surged at the start of the May month’s F&O expiry week.  Gains of European markets combined with the recuperation of Indian rupee, prompted investors to go long on risky bets. The steady session of trade, took 30 scrip sensitive index, Sensex, piercing above the 16400 crucial level and widely followed 50 share index, Nifty, at a striking distance of crucial 5000 psychological level.  The session turned comforting after starting on flattish note, barometer gauges slug hard to capture gains of over a percentage points and shut shop in vicinity to the high points of the day.

Optimistic global set-up also helped traders roll over their positions in next month series, as polls showing support for a pro-bailout government in Greece eased fears of a euro zone exit hitting demand. European shares, prolonging their gaining trajectory for third consecutive session, gave the required impetus to Indian equity markets. On the flip side, regional counterparts ended on mixed note as investors weighed news of political progress in Greece, against Spain's deteriorating financial situation.

Back home, buying witnessed across Dalal Street was broad-based, as none of the sector ended in red terrain, however, stocks from  Power,  Bankex and  Consumer Durable counters, were ‘best performers’ on BSE sectoral front. Stocks specific action, on account of earning announcement, kept the market buzzing. State run oil refiner Indian Oil Corporation, soared over 0.50% after exceeding street expectations for the quarter ending March 31, 2012. India's biggest refiner has reported 224 per cent jump in net profit at Rs 12,670.43 crore in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, BHEL too registered gains of over 4% on reporting 20.79% rise in fourth quarter net profit at Rs 3379.81 crore. On the flip side, Oil India dropped over 0.50% on reporting 21% dip in Q4FY12 net profit. Meanwhile, reports that the government has no immediate plans to raise the retail prices of diesel, kerosene and cooking gas, did not board well with investors which squared off positions from the PSU oil marketing companies like HPCL and BPCL that plunged between 1-2%.  However, the overall market breadth ended on an optimistic note, which saw advances and declines in the ratio of 1636:1034, while 1103 shares ended unchanged (Provisional).

The BSE Sensex gained 199.02 points or 1.23% and settled at 16,416.84 .The index touched a high and a low of 16,436.64 and 16,273.49 respectively. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 declines on the index (Provisional)

Broader indices too performed well, the BSE Mid-cap index gained 1.21% while Small-cap index was up by 0.87%. (Provisional)

On the BSE sectoral front, while there were no laggards, Bankex up by 2.42%, Power up by 2.33%, Consumer Durables up 2.20%, Capital Goods up 1.85% and Auto up 1.74%, were the top gainers.(Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were, (SBI)  up 4.99%, BHEL up 4.56%, Tata Power up 4.37%, Hindalco Industries up 3.13% and Tata Motors up 3.03% while, Gail India down 2.96%, ONGC down 1.40%, Maruti Suzuki down 1.08%  HUL down 0.94%, , and Sun Pharma down 0.84% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, the government is expected to take a decision regarding 32 foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals on June 1, 2012. 19 are new proposals out of the 32, which include Sesa Goa, Pfizer and Mahindra and Mahindra. Three, are those which had been deferred in the earlier meeting and five are amended proposals. FDI request of G4S Secure Solutions, decision on which had been deferred in the previous meetings of the FIPB, will also be considered.

FDI in India is allowed through the automatic route in almost all sectors except those which are considered sensitive for the nation like defence and telecom. In these sectors permission has to be taken from Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB).

The government has been taking steps to increase the foreign investment in the country by streamlining its procedure. It has recently allowed FIIs to invest up to 23% in commodity exchanges through automatic route.

India received the highest ever monthly FDI in the month of March 2012. This was to the tune of $8.1 billion. Cumulatively, FDI inflows for the fiscal 2011-12 amounted to $36.50 billion. Apart from the fact that foreign investment in the country has been increasing, Indian companies too have been making their presence felt in the international markets. According to the latest RBI data, Indian companies invested $2.67 billion in different countries in April.

India VIX, a gauge for market’s short term expectation of volatility lost 5.80% at 23.68 from its previous close of 25.14 on Monday. (Provisional)

The S&P CNX Nifty gained 65.25 point or 1.33% to settle at 4,985.65. The index touched high and low of 4,994.95 and 4,931.30 respectively.41 stocks advanced against 9 declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Nifty were SBI up 4.84%, BHEL up 4.63%, Tata Power up 4.20%, PNB up 3.84%, SesaGoa up by 3.75% and (Provisional)

On the other hand GAIL down 2.71%, BPCL down 2.24%, Maruti down 1.39%, ONGC down 1.23% Ranbaxy down 1.16% and were the top losers. (Provisional)

The European markets were trading green, with France's CAC 40 up 1.08%, Germany's DAX up by 0.95%, while Britain’s FTSE 100 up by 1.08%.

Sentiments turned bullish in the Asian region and all the major equity indices barring Jakarta Composite snapped the day’s trade in the positive terrain on Monday, after an opinion poll indicated that Greece’s pro-austerity conservative New Democracy party swung into first place ahead of next month’s elections. But, the gains remained capped amid reports that the Spanish government may consider tapping the euro zone’s temporary rescue fund in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, mainland Chinese shares rallied over a percentage point amid expectations for a policy stimulus, while Hong Kong indices surged by 0.47% on Monday, lifted by strength in Chinese financials and growth-sensitive sectors, although below-average turnover suggested gains could be short-lived. Moreover, Taiwan stocks rose about a percentage point, snapping a three-day losing streak, led by banking and tech heavyweights such as TSMC.

South Korean markets remained closed on Monday for a public holiday on account of birthday of Gautama Buddha.