Reliance may power bulls
Volatile markets ended higher with benchmark index rising 0.61% or 82 points and NSE Nifty gaining 0.80% or 32 points. Decision of the Japanese central bank of keeping the benchmark rates unchanged aided the bourses to register strong openings. However, Profit booking gripped the bourses in the later half of the session dragging the key indices off days high. But frontline stocks like RIL, ONGC, HDFC, Satyam Computer, ITC, HLL and BHEL kept the markets intact aiding the key indices to close with healthy gains. Finally, the BSE benchmark Sensex surged 86 points to close at 14217. NSE Nifty was up by 32 points at 4109.
Reliance Industries announced its Q3 result with net profit at Rs27.99bn (up 57%), beating our expectations. The scrip surged 1.3% to Rs1367 touching an intra-day high of Rs1384 and a low of Rs1349 and recorded volumes of over 35,00,000 shares on NSE.
Siemens edged lower 0.8% to Rs1214. The Company announced its Q1 result with net profit at Rs980.7mn (up 100%) and sales at Rs16.27bn (up 91%). The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs1245 and a low of Rs1157 and recorded volumes of over 14,00,000 shares on NSE.
ONGC spurred over 2.5% to Rs918 after the company made a major discovery in Mahanadi. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs936 and a low of Rs896 and recorded volumes of over 16,00,000 shares on NSE.
Oil & Gas stocks were in limelight as crude oil hovered around the $52 per barrel still down. HPCL surged over 2.3% to Rs321, IOC spurred 3.7% to Rs493 and BPCL added 2.3% to Rs368. Oil exploration major’s also recorded smart gains RIL and ONGC were among the major gainers.
FMCG stocks also recorded smart gains. Heavy weight ITC, HLL, Dabur and Nirma were among the major gainers.
Frontline Technology stocks also were in action. Satyam Computer has surged 1.2% to Rs514, Wipro was up 1.2% to Rs641 and Infosys rose 0.9% to Rs2224. NIIT Ltd, Rolta and HCL Tech were the major gainers among the 50-scrip’s of Nifty.
Pharma stocks also ended with gains. Wockhardt Pharma surged by over 2.2% to Rs364, Glenmark was up 2.6% to Rs617 and Glaxo edged higher by 0.2% to Rs1156. However, Ranbaxy slipped 0.5% to Rs430 and Aurobindo Pharma lost 1.5% to Rs737.
Cement stocks were a mixed bag. ACC was up by 0.2% to Rs1095, Gujarat Ambuja advanced by 0.6% to Rs145. However, Mangalam Cement lost 1% to Rs247, Grasim was down by 0.3% to Rs2865, Madras Cements fell 1.7% to Rs3610. The Board of Directors of the company has announced that they would consider interim dividend on 30th January.