Bulls lead third day back-to-back

Today's major news

Reliance Power acquires generation assets from Reliance Infrastructure

Food inflation inches down to 16.23%

Reliance Industries makes fifth oil discovery in Gujarat block

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Global signals

European stocks rose in early trade on Friday, adding to a brisk two-day recovery rally as investors continued to scoop up beaten-down shares while fears over further sell-off of euro assets moved to the backburner.

All the major Asian indices closed in the positive territory except Shanghai Composite that closed with marginal loss of 0.01%. Jakarta Composite and Straits Times were closed today. SGX Nifty closed 65 points higher.

The US stock index futures signal mixed opening on the Wall Street. Investors keep an eye on data related to consumer sentiment, personal income and consumption numbers for the month of April.

Indian indices

Bulls continued to trounce the bear on the third consecutive day. The market witnessed solid gains and the momentum persisted throughout the session. The Sensex gained 841 points in the last three days. World equities also extended gains as investor worry eased after China refuted a report that it was reviewing its Euro zone bond holdings due to the region's debt crisis.

Heavy gains on the Wall Street and strong Asian indices, boosted the Indian indices at the start. The Sensex began the session 27 points higher. Easing food inflation to 16.23% for the week ended May 15, 2010 and positive European markets, coupled with robust buying in realty and metal stocks led the Sensex to expand its gains and hit the day's high of 16891. However, mid cap and small cap outperformed the Sensex. The Sensex finally ended at 16863, up 197 points. The Nifty holding its 5000 psychological levels, settled at 5066, higher by 63 points.

Market sentiment

The market breadth was constructive as advancing stocks outnumbered trailing stocks over two times. Of the 2,929 stocks traded on the BSE, 1,923 stocks advanced, whereas 892 stocks declined. Hundred and fourteen stocks remained unchanged.

Sectoral & stock screening

On the third straight session, all the 13 sectoral indices on the BSE closed on a positive note. BSE Realty led the pack of gainers, with gains of 3.92%, followed by BSE Metal that surged by 3.54% and BSE FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) that added 2.34%. Remaining indices closed in the range of 0.62%-1.47% higher.

Among 'A' group stocks: The top three gainers - Sesa Goa (up 10.77%), Shree Renuka Sugars (up 9.71%) and Housing & Development Infrastructure (up 8.82%). The top three losers - Mphasis (down 3.24%), Tata Chemicals (down 2.10%) and Piramal Healthcare (down 1.75%).

Viewing volumes

Iron and steel maker and top gainers of the day - Sesa Goa saw highest trading with over 0.69 crore shares changing hands on the BSE, followed by industrial finance company - IFCI (0.67 crore shares), wind turbine major - Suzlon Energy (0.63 crore shares), sugar major - Shree Renuka Sugars (0.61 crore shares) and India's largest developer - Unitech (0.50 crore share).