Buying in late hour help benchmarks to keep their head above water

Key domestic benchmarks managed to keep their head above water on last trading day of the week, prolonging their gaining streak for the fourth straight day, after a very stirring tussle between bulls and bears throughout the session. Buying which emerged in late trade mainly acted as saving grace for domestic equity markets and helped them stay above their crucial 6,050 (Nifty) and 20,000 (Sensex) levels. Risk appetite improved after Standard & Poor’s (S&P) maintained their rating on India without downgrading it, which was feared by market participants due to country's burgeoning current account deficit. S&P has affirmed BBB- rating on India and have retained their negative outlook. Further, the global rating agency said there is 1 in 3 chance of downgrading India rating in the next 12 months.

Global cues remain mixed as the European markets opened lower following subdued Wall Street closing overnight, after a US Federal Reserve official tipped a pullback in the central bank's easing programs as soon as this summer. While, Asian markets ended mostly in green with China’s Shanghai garnering gain of about one and a half percent as investors chased a rally in property stocks ahead of April home price data due on May 18. Meanwhile, Nikkei share average rose on Friday with investors snapping up reflationary plays such as real estate stocks on the dips - posting a second week of gains supported by the benign effects of a weak yen.

Back home, hopes for an interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India in its June 17 monetary policy further supported buying. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) asking the Planning Commission to formulate a draft Bill on Dispute Resolution in Public Contracts in consultation with all stakeholders and Ministries supported the positive sentiment. Some support also came in from buying in software stocks which rose on a weak rupee. The rupee lost 0.07 paise to 54.84 against the dollar on the Interbank Foreign Exchange due to appreciation of the US currency against euro overseas. Meanwhile, traders continued to pile up positions in Realty stocks for third consecutive day as the latest data showing a sharp fall in wholesale price inflation in April 2013 raised hopes that the RBI may further cut policy rates to perk up economic growth. Lower interest rates may help revive demand for properties.

Stocks of cement companies too remained on the buyers’ radar after the Competition Appellate Tribunal (COMPAT) passed an order granting a stay on the penalty imposed by the Competition Commission of India on 11 cement firms on allegations of cartelization. However, gains remain capped after stocks of local drug manufacturer hit rock bottom after the government issued the long-pending drug price control order, paving the way for the implementation of national pharmaceutical pricing policy, which will lead to a reduction of an average 20-25% in medicine prices.

The NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index Nifty gained by over fifteen points to end above its psychological 6,150 support level, while Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index - Sensex rose by about forty points to finish over its psychological 20,250 mark. Moreover, the broader markets too traded in-line with benchmarks and snapped the session in green.

The overall volumes stood at over Rs 1.57 lakh crore, which remained on the lower side as compared to that on Thursday. The market breadth remained in favor of declines as there were 1,112 shares on the gaining side against 1,245 shares on the losing side while 145 shares remain unchanged.

Finally, the BSE Sensex gained 38.79 points or 0.19% to settle at 20,286.12, while the CNX Nifty rose by 17.40 points or 0.28% to end at 6,187.30.

The BSE Sensex touched a high and a low of 20,328.19 and 20,155.01, respectively. The BSE Mid cap index up by 0.33% and Small cap index was up by 0.13%.

The top gainers on the Sensex were, BHEL up 4.00%, NTPC up 2.24%, ICICI Bank up 1.92%, L&T up 1.84% and Bajaj Auto up 1.44%, while Bharti Airtel down 1.96%, Dr Reddys Lab down 1.80%, Sterlite Industries down 1.32%, Maruti Suzuki down 1.00% and Wipro down 0.94% were the top losers on the index. 

The top gainers on the BSE Sectoral space were, Power up 3.08%, Capital Goods up 2.95%, Realty up 2.02%, Bankex up 0.56% and PSU up 0.48%, while Consumer Durables down 0.72%, Health Care down 0.39%, Metal down 0.33%, Oil & Gas down 0.24% and FMCG down 0.05% were the top losers on the sectoral space.

Meanwhile, LPG supplies to households having unverified multiple connections will not get refills from June 1. The three state-owned fuel retailers - IOC, BPCL and HPCL - have been directed to stop supplies of LPG refills to households having multiple-connections for which no Know Your Customer (KYC) details have been received.

IOC said in a statement, ‘no transactions, including delivery of non-subsidized cylinders, will be permitted in such cases once such connections have been blocked’. The list of such customers is also displayed at the LPG distributorships and in the companies’ web sites.

Further, customers whose name figure on the list of multiple connection holders need to submit their KYC details along with proof of identity and address immediately to their LPG distributors to continue receiving uninterrupted quota of subsidized cylinders, IOC said. Other customers whose names do not appear in the list need not submit their KYC details as of now. However, the deadline for submission of KYC was December 31, 2012.

The CNX Nifty touched a high and a low of 6,199.95 and 6,146.15 respectively. 

The top gainers on the Nifty were BHEL up 5.06%, Reliance Infra up 3.05%, JP Associates up 2.69%, DLF up 2.68% and NTPC up 2.49%.

On the other hand, top losers on Nifty were, IndusInd Bank down 2.58%, HCL Tech down 2.42%, Dr Reddy’s down 2.02%, Bharti Airtel down 1.85% and NMDC down by 1.65%.

The European markets were trading in green, France’s CAC 40 up by 0.37%, the United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 up by 0.37% and Germany’s DAX up by 0.14%.

Asian stock markets ended mostly higher on Friday, with Japanese market rising as the yen's slight decline triggered some buying at lower levels. Chinese market went home with green mark for a second straight session on Friday as investors cheered moves by the government to ease strict regulation while the rest traded cautiously as concerns grew after a Federal Reserve official tipped a pullback in the central bank's easing programs as soon as this summer. Meanwhile, Taiwan market closed lower as the market encountered stiff technical resistance ahead of 8,400 points.

Markets in Hong Kong and South Korea are closed for holidays.