Market kicks off FY2011 in style

Today's major news

India's external debt jumps 12%

Food inflation inches up to 16.35%

Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows up by 15.4% year on year

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Global signals

European shares rose in early trade on Thursday, hitting fresh 18-month highs as upbeat manufacturing data from Europe and China fuelled optimism about the global economic recovery, with banks and miners rising.

All the major Asian indices ended the session higher on Thursday, after the upbeat manufacturing data from China. SGX Nifty closed 30 points higher.

The US stock index futures pointed to a higher open on the Wall Street on Thursday.

Indian indices

Bulls were back on the first day of the fiscal (FY2011) ending the week on a positive note, taking lead from strong Asian cues. After two consecutive sessions of loss, equities opened on a positive note, 27 points higher at 17555 and never the saw that level again for the day. On the back of the European and China upbeat manufacturing data that fuelled optimism about the global economic recovery, the global indices rallied on the last working day of this week.

Such U-turn by the global markets triggered a positive trend and thus Indian markets witnessed sustained buying activity. IT stocks that were hit over the last two days on hardening made a strong comeback, while consumer durables (CD) and metal stocks acted as a catalyst for the up-trend. The up-trend lifted the markets sentiments and helped the Sensex to touch the day's high of 17706.

Auto stocks remained laggards, as the monthly numbers (for March) released today were not that encouraging, though it didn't impacted the market sentiments. The day ended well as the Sensex ended the session 164 points higher at 17692, while Nifty closed at 5290, up by 41 points.

Market sentiment

Positive global cues and hence continuous buying helped advanced stocks far outnumber the trailing scrips with the advance/decline ratio at 3.6:1. In today’s session 2,212 (76.57%) stocks advanced while only 608 (21.05%) stocks declined. Sixty nine stocks closed unchanged.

Sectoral & stock screening

Of the 13 sector indices on the BSE only two—fast moving consumer goods (FMCG; down 0.22%) and auto (down 0.08%)— were down. After trading low over the last two days on a hardening rupee, today BSE IT topped the sector list being up by 2.26%. The BSE IT components, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys Technologies and Wipro featured in the top 10 gainers of the Sensex. BSE Consumer Durables (CD) was at the second position— up by 1.54%.

The top three gainers were, Procter & Gamble that was up by 15.15%, followed by Godrej Industries that surged 5.56% and Crompton Greaves that rose by 4.79%.
The top three losers were Mundra Port that slid 5.06%, followed by Balrampur Chini Mills that was down by 4.44% and Shree Renuka Sugars that fell by 4.21%.

Viewing volumes

The developer and operator of the Mundra Port, Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone, was the most actively traded share with over 0.65 crore shares changing hands on the BSE, followed by steel maker Ispat Industries (0.63 crore shares), India’s second largest realty major Unitech (0.46 crore shares), sugar manufacturer Shree Renuka Sugars (0.35 crore shares) and Reliance Natural Resources (0.32 crore shares).