Bulls call the shots

A revival in global risk appetite and expectations the struggling world economy may have bottomed out boosted Indian indices for the fifth week in a row. The top-30 Sensex has climbed 32.39% from a low of 8160.40 on 9 March 2009.

The rally has lifted the market to positive territory this year after it had plunged 52% in 2008.

Falling inflation was another booster for the market besides positive global cues. Inflation based on the wholesale price index (WPI) rose 0.26% in the year through 28 March 2009, lower than previous week's 0.31% rise, data released by the government on Thursday, 9 April 2009, showed.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 455.03 points or 4.40% to 10,803.86, in the week ended Thursday, 9 April 2009. The broader 50-issue Nifty jumped 131 points, or 4.07% to 3342.05 in the week

The BSE Mid-Cap index gained 232.93 points or 7.45% to 3,358.35 and the BSE Small-Cap index advanced 330.63 points or 9.62% to 3,767.55 in the week.

The Sensex is up 11.98% in calendar 2009 from its close of 9,647.31 on 31 December 2008. The S&P CNX Nifty is up 12.93% in calendar 2009 from its close of 2,959.15 on 31 December 2008.

UBS Wealth Management raised Indian market to 'overweight' on Thursday, 9 April 2009, as domestic demand improves and easing inflation paves the way for more rate cuts. The brokerage said in a note that valuations of Indian stocks have fallen to attractive levels and Indian firms have higher return on equity compared with other Asian markets. UBS had earlier on 27 March 2009, predicted that the Sensex could rise to 13,500 by March 2010 in anticipation of a recovery in earnings.

Goldman Sachs raised India market to 'market weight,' on 1 April 2009, the first upgrade since the brokerage rated it 'underweight' in January 2008, when the benchmark index climbed to a record high. The brokerage said India has a higher proportion of domestic demand drivers than many other Asian economies, while it expects relatively better corporate profit growth than in most other markets.

As the provisional data released by the stock exchange, foreign funds bought shares worth a net Rs 573.33 crore on Wednesday, 8 April 2009. Foreign funds bought shares worth Rs 1103.40 crore in three trading sessions from 1 April 2009 and 6 April 2009. The inflow followed heavy sales in the preceding three trading sessions. Foreign funds dumped stocks worth a net Rs 1266.70 crore in three trading sessions from 27 March 2009 to 31 March 2009. Before the selling, foreign institutional investors had mopped up stocks worth Rs 3635 crore in a short span from 17 March 2009 to 26 March 2009.

Auto, realty, metal and capital goods stocks led a rally on Monday, 6 April 2009. The BSE 30-share Sensex rose 186.04 points, or 1.8%, to 10,534.87. The S&P CNX Nifty was up 45.55 points or 1.42% to 3,256.60.

Key benchmark indices extended recent strong gains with the barometer index BSE Sensex registering its highest closing in nearly six months on Wednesday, 8 April 2009. The BSE 30-share Sensex rose 207.47 points or 1.97% to 10,742.34. The S&P CNX Nifty gained 86.35 points or 2.65% to 3,342.95.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 61.52 points or 0.57% at 10,803.86 on Thursday, 9 April 2009. The S&P Nifty ended almost flat at 3342.05.

India's largest private sector company by market capitalization and oil refiner Reliance Industries (RIL) rose 4.24% in the week. The company started pumping gas from the Krishna Godavari (KG) which is estimated to add close to $2 billion to the company's profit at peak production levels.

Metal stocks extended gains as global metal prices rose. Hindalco Industries (up 4.44%), Steel Authority of India (up 3.45%), Sterlite Industries (up 6.35%), National Aluminum Company (up 9.62%) and Tata Steel (up 16.17%), rose.

Steel ropes maker Usha Martin surged 12.24% on reports the European Union scrapped a 23.8% tariff on steel ropes.

Rate sensitive real estate shares rose on hopes lower rates will spur housing demand. DLF (up 9.29%), Indiabulls Real Estate (up 25.43%), Unitech (up 12.13%). Most of the realty deals including sale of commercial property and housing sales is driven by bank finance.

Banking stocks rose on hopes falling interest rates will boost lending growth. India's largest private sector bank by net profit ICICI Bank rose 10.40%. ICICI Bank's advance tax payment remained unchanged at Rs 250 crore in Q4 March 2009 when compared to Q4 March 2008.

India's second largest private sector bank by operating income HDFC Bank rose 1.09%. Its advance tax payment rose 10% to Rs 275 crore in Q4 March 2009 over Q4 March 2008.

India's largest bank in terms of assets and branch network State Bank of India, however, fell 0.43%. Its advance tax payment jumped 27.64% to Rs 1810 crore in Q4 March 2009 over Q4 March 2008.

India's biggest dedicated housing finance firm by operating income HDFC rose 7.62%. It announced a 50 basis points reduction in its retail prime lending rate (RPLR) to 14% effective 25 March 2009.

India's largest truck maker by sales Tata Motors, which started taking bookings for its world's cheapest car Nano on 9 April 2009, rose 10.94%

India's largest engineering firm by revenue Larsen & Toubro gained 15.56%.

The Indian government on Thursday, 9 April 2009, launched its biggest-ever auction of oil and gas assets, offering 70 exploration blocks at a time when global oil demand is waning due to economic slowdown. The government has offered 24 deepwater blocks, 28 shallow water blocks and 18 onland blocks in the auction, which will close on 10 August 2009.

The government has also offered 10 coal-bed methane blocks for exploration in the fourth round of offering such blocks. The government has so far awarded 212 oil and gas blocks, under its licencing policy introduced in 1999.

Total passenger car sales in the domestic market increased marginally in March 2009 to 1,29,358 from 1,28,098 units in March 2008, according to the figures released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) on 8 April 2009.

Total two-wheeler sales in March 2009 jumped 3.65% at 6,54,017 units compared to 6,30,976 units in March 2008. Commercial vehicle sales during the month, however, dipped by 26.22% to 41,881 units from 56,768 units for the year-ago period, SIAM said. The grand total of all vehicle sales in March 2009 soared by 1.09% at 8,93,934 units as against 8,84,313 units in the same month last year.