Post session - Quick review

The late hour spurt aided the Indian benchmark equity indices in registering third straight positive close of trade, with trader’s now waiting for key inflation and industrial output data due next week that will be crucial ahead of the RBI's policy review on March 19. In the absence of positive triggers at home front, barometer gauges gyrated listlessly in red in the first half of the session, however, the later half turned out to be a game changer, as market-participants drawing some positive cues from the opening of European counterparts, bought fundamentally strong blue chip stocks. Meanwhile, some support also came in from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s statement that the economy has faced a difficult situation in the past year but the government aims to achieve an average growth of eight percent during the 12th Five Year Plan. Thus by the end of the trade, benchmark 30 share index, Sensex, on BSE, gathering triple digit gains, ended above the psychological 19400 level. In the similar fashion, widely followed index, Nifty, accumulated over 40 points to end above the crucial 5850 bastion. Meanwhile, broader indices too ended on a sanguine note.

On the global front, Asian markets ended mostly positive by the end of the trade, even as investors awaited the outcome of the meetings of the central banks of Japan, Britain and the euro zone for signs of more policy stimulus, while solid US economic data underpinned the dollar. Meanwhile, European shares edged up in early trade on Thursday, pushing major indexes to near multi-year highs and with investors forecasting more gains in the medium term.

Closer home, among the sectoral indices, Realty pack led the gainers, closely followed by Information Technology (IT) and Capital Goods (CG), which enticed sufficient traction. On the other hand, Consumer Durable, Metal and Public Sector Undertaking counters witnessing brutal laceration, remained the major pocket of weakness. IT shares extended their gains on hopes of improving sector earnings this year, especially in the United States on easy monetary policy. Additionally, banking stocks too boosted the investors’ confidence as stocks like Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, SBI, PNB, Union Bank and Yes Bank all edged higher on hope of rates cut in RBI’s upcoming policy meet. Meanwhile, RBI has asked banks to verify whether each and every beneficiary of farm loan waiver qualified under the scheme announced by the government. The action is being taken after a Comptroller and Auditor General report highlighted irregularities in over a fifth of the cases audited by it in Rs 52,000-crore farm loan waiver schemes of 2008. On the flip side, telecom stocks like Idea Cellular, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communication edged lower as there was no decision on the timeline for the third round of auctions and further reduction in auction prices. The market breadth on the BSE ended positive; advances and declining stocks were in a ratio of 1536: 1295 while 130 scrips remained unchanged. (Provisional)

The BSE Sensex gained 212.05 points or 1.10% and settled at 19464.66. The index touched a high and a low of 19465.52 and 19212.92 respectively. 20 stocks were up, while 8 stocks declined and 2 stocks remained unchanged on the index (Provisional)

The BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices rose by 0.53% and 0.88% respectively. (Provisional)

On the BSE Sectoral front, Realty was up by 1.94%, Capital Goods up by 1.75%, IT up by 1.66%, TECK up by 1.33% and FMCG up by 1.18% were the top gainers, while Consumer Durables down by 0.54%, Metal down by 0.47% and PSU down by 0.01%, were the losers in the space.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hero MotoCorp up by 4.64%, ITC up by 2.42%, L&T up by 2.39%, HDFC Bank up by 2.12% and Wipro up by 1.84%. On the flip side, Jindal Steel down by 2.24%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.74%, Coal India down by 1.25%, Tata Motors down by 0.97% and Hindalco Industries down by 0.54% were the top losers on the Sensex. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, the government has proposed an increase of over 124 per cent in Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) to Rs 35.68 lakh crore for Central Plan in the 12th plan period (2012-17) as compared to the 11th five year plan.  For the Central Sector and Centrally Sponsored Schemes in the 12th Plan, an increase of 132.12 per cent is projected to Rs 27.11 lakh crore, versus realization of Rs 11.68 lakh crore in the 11th Plan. Central Assistance to State Plan is projected to increase by 103.53 per cent at Rs 8.57 lakh crore, over realization of Rs 4.21 lakh crore in the previous Plan.

While, the National Development Council (NDC) approving the draft 12th Plan, which aims at achieving 8 per cent average growth rate during 2012-17. The Plan aims to generate 50 million non-farm work opportunities and will give priorities to high employment generating labour-intensive industries like food processing, textile, leather goods, gems and jewellery. 

The 12 Plan also emphasizes on creation of appropriate skill sets among the rural migrant and urban poor to make growth inclusive and will also provide nurturing, protective and safe environment for women to facilitate their entry into public spaces.

India VIX, a gauge for markets short term expectation of marginally lost 2.46% at 13.07 from its previous close of 13.40 on Wednesday. (Provisional)

The S&P CNX Nifty gained 56.05 points or 0.96% to settle at 5,874.65. The index touched high and low of 5,878.00 and 5,801.30 respectively. 31 stocks advanced against 8 declining and one stock remain unchanged on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Nifty were Hero MotoCorp was up by 4.67%, DLF was up by 3.65%, Asian Paints was up by 3.09%, ITC was up by 2.42% and L&T was up by 2.38%. On the other hand, Jindal Steel & Power down by 1.99%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.76%, Coal India down by 1.26%, Ambuja Cements down by 1.09% and Tata Motors down by 1.03% were the top losers. (Provisional)

The European markets were trading in green, France’s CAC 40 up by 0.57%, Germany’s DAX up by 0.36% and the United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 down by 0.43%.

Asian equity markets closed shutter on mixed note snapping earlier session’s rally, despite the Dow hitting another record on Wall Street. Japan’s Nikkei closed higher after touching 12,000 mark for the first time in more than four years, supported by weaker yen and as BoJ kept things unchanged. China’s Shanghai Composite went home with green mark ahead of trade data release for February, due on March 8. Meanwhile, South Korea’s Kospi Composite closed lower with market heavyweight Samsung Electronics losing after announcing a Y10bn investment in Japanese rival Sharp.