Nifty reclaims 5K

Today's major news

Edelweiss keen on banking foray; the stock closes 0.77% higher

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation plans to set up Rs30,000 crore refinery; the stock jumps 3.72%

Tata Motors FY10 bottom line jumps 124%, the stock rises 4.74%

Click here for more stories

Global signals

European shares extended gains on Thursday tracking gains from Asian markets and after China denied that it was looking to cut its holdings of Euro zone sovereign debt. As of writing the report, FTSE 100 was trading 2.05% higher.

All the major Asian indices closed in the positive territory. Japan's Nikkei average came off a six-month low to jump 1.2%, its best one-day performance in two weeks. SGX Nifty closed 95 points higher.

The US stock index futures signal strong rebound on the Wall Street. Investors keep an eye on second reading of first-quarter US gross domestic product (GDP) growth.

Indian indices

Bulls continued to dominate the market on the second consecutive day as key benchmark index Nifty regained its psychological levels of 5000. Heavy short covering owing to May F&O expiry, strong global cues, and buying in banking, auto and oil & gas stocks helped the indices to recover heavy losses suffered in Tuesday's (May 25, 2010) session.

Weak global cues on the report that China was looking to cut its holdings in Euro zone sovereign debt and expiry of May F&O contracts set the pitch for an unappetising start. The Sensex opened 23 points higher and soon turned negative and lingered in red for brief part of the morning trade to touch the day's low - 57 points lower. However, recovery in Asian markets after China denied the report about cutting its Euro zone debt, helped the Sensex to cut its initial losses and rebound into green. The Sensex extended gains owing to short covering and buying in index heavyweights. The strong opening of European markets also supported the rally that helped the Sensex to hit the day's high of 16694 and the Nifty to regain the crucial 5000 levels. At closing, the Sensex ended with gains of 278 points at 16,666 while the Nifty shut at 5003, up 86 points.

Market sentiment

The market breadth was positive as advancing stocks outpaced declining stocks on second straight session. Of the 2,882 stocks traded on the BSE, 1,662 stocks advanced, whereas 1,108 stocks declined. Hundred and twelve stocks closed unchanged.

Sectoral & stock screening

Like yesterday (May 26, 2010), all the 13 sectoral indices on the BSE closed on a positive note. The BSE Bankex led the pack of gainers, with gains of 2.55%, followed by BSE Auto that surged by 2.10% and BSE Oil&Gas that added 2.09%. Remaining indices closed in the range of 0.53%-1.70% higher.

On 'A' group stocks' front; The star stock of the day was Areva T&D that was up by 11.91%, followed by REI Agro that surged 8.60% and Apollo Hospitals that rose by 8.02% on stock split plan. On other hand, Adani Enterprises slid the most by 6.47% after block deal, followed by Max India that fell by 3.92% and Piramal Healthcare that shed 3.86%.

Viewing volumes

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group firm - Reliance Natural Resources saw highest trading with over 0.90 crore shares changing hands on the BSE, followed by diversified conglomerate - Adani Enterprises (0.55 crore shares), India's largest developer - Unitech (0.49 crore shares), Iron and steel maker - Sesa Goa (0.49 crore shares) and India's leading steel maker - Tata Steel (0.42 crore share).