Bulls march continues

Today's major news

Sun Pharmaceutical gets USFDA nod for VHER tablets; the stock closes 1.27% higher

Aban Offshore sails on getting contract; the stock ends higher by 6.83%

Food inflation softens to 10.35%



Global signals

The European stocks traded lower after Swiss cement producer Holcim reported poor results and its cautious outlook hit construction stocks.

All the major Asian markets closed higher. Japanese Nikkei rose by 1.32% and China’s Shanghai Composite surged by 0.81%.

The US stock index futures point to a slightly higher opening on the Wall Street. The focus will be on the weekly jobless claims data. Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Staples companies will declare their results today.

Indian indices

The Indian indices remained upbeat all through the day to end the session at new 30-month high. The indices rose for the second day in a row as investor sentiment improved after India’s food inflation eased to 10.35% for the week ended August 07, 2010 amid speculation that the monsoon will boost crop output, buoying economic growth. Easing inflation may reduce the pressure on the central bank for further monetary action to rein in inflation.

Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways shot up by 12% and 5% respectively after the Civil Aviation Minister reiterated that the government is examining a plan to allow foreign carriers to invest in local companies. Bajaj Auto advanced over 2% after being added to the NSE index. The heavyweights like ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries and Larsen & Toubro gained in today’s trade.

Tracking the firm Asian cues, the Sensex started the day 20 points higher at 18276 and also its day’s low. The index traded higher throughout the morning session. In the afternoon session, the Sensex pared some of its early gains as the European markets turned negative. However, in late trades, the index soon picked up speed to widen its gains hitting the 2-1/2 year high of 18475 owing to strong buying in index heavyweights and also in banking and fast moving consumer goods stocks.

At the closing bell, the Sensex shut at 18455, 198 points higher. The Nifty closed at 5540, up by 61 points.

Bond Market Update: India’s government bonds and rupee weren’t traded today in Mumbai, the nation’s financial center, as banks were shut for the Parsi New Year day of Navroz

Market Outlook: US will see flurry of economic data tonight starting with initial jobless claims, followed by Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s general economic index and leading indicators data.

Market sentiment

The market breadth was strong as advancing stocks outpaced the declining ones. Of the 3,071 scrips traded on the BSE, 1,650 scrips advanced whereas 1,297 scrips declined. Hundred and twenty-four shares traded unchanged.

Sectoral & stock screening

All the 13 sectoral indices ended the session in the positive territory except BSE Realty and BSE PSU that closed with losses of 0.67% and 0.05% respectively. Among gainers, BSE Bankex surged by 1.92% as food inflation eased, followed by BSE fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) that rose by 1.63% and BSE Metal that advanced by 0.97%.

In 'A' group stocks, Petronet LNG was the topper, up by 9.64%, followed by Ambuja Cements that surged by 8.16% and Aban Offshore that rose by 6.83% on signing contract with Cairn Energy India Pty. Among laggards, National Aluminum Company slid the most by 2.73%, followed by Godrej Industries that fell by 2.01% and Opto Circuits that shed 1.82%.

Viewing volumes

Wind turbine major - Suzlon Energy was the most traded with over 1.09 crore shares changing hands on the BSE, followed by India's second largest real estate developer - Unitech (0.30 crore shares), energy sector firm - Petronet LNG (0.29 crore shares), one of the public sector bank - UCO Bank (0.28 crore shares) and industrial finance company - IFCI (0.25 crore).