Technology stocks lift Nifty above 6200

Major headlines

Va Tech Wabag makes a strong debut

KPIT Cummins completes merger of German company; the stock closes 1.96% lower

Coal India IPO price band at Rs225-245 per share



Indian indices

What a stupendous session on the Dalal Street! Bulls came back in full strength as the domestic markets seemed to have forgotten about the poor index of industrial production (IIP) data and posted gains of over 2%. The indices witnessed a sharp rise after consolidating for previous four days, supported by foreign money along with worldwide rally on growing expectations that the US Federal Reserve will take further measures to boost the economy. It seemed like the Nifty has given a signal to cross an all-time high soon; it closed at a 32-month high today on broad based buying and stayed above 6200 levels. Information Technology (IT) was the buzzing sector ahead of Infosys Technologies’ earnings on Friday (October 15, 2010) and upbeat fourth quarter forecast by Intel. Banking stocks rose as lower-than-expected IIP numbers in August 2010 could ease pressure on the central bank to again raise rates at a policy review early next month.

New listing: Va Tech Wabag ended the day at Rs1,709.40, up by 31.49% over its issue price of Rs1,310 per share.

Among IT stocks, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Infosys Technologies were at an all-time high today. TCS surged by 4.7%, Infosys and HCL Technologies gained by 2.6% each and Wipro rose by 3.5%. In financial space, Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) jumped by 4.5%. State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Punjab National Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Infrastructure Development Finance were up between 2-3% and ICICI Bank climbed by 1%. In fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) pack, ITC and Hindustan Unilever rallied between 2.5-3.7%.

The Sensex began the session 20 points higher at 20223. The index hit the day’s low of 20211 in initial trades. From the day’s low, the Sensex soon rose and started extending its gains tracking strong Asian markets. The index climbed higher and traded with strong gains throughout the morning session. In afternoon session, the Sensex continued its northward journey as the European markets opened strong. In last hour of trades, the Sensex hit the day’s high of 20704 as robust buying was witnessed across the board, especially in IT stocks and index heavyweights.

At the finishing line, the Sensex shut shop at 20688, higher by 485 points. The Nifty closed at 32- month high at 6234, up by 143 points.

Bonds update: India’s ten-year bonds rose, snapping a four-day decline, before a government report that may show the rate of inflation in September held at the same pace as the previous month.

Market Outlook: Tonight in the US, Federal Reserve’s Chairman Ben Bernanke will give a speech and we will see the first of the big Wall Street banks reporting quarterly results in the form of JP Morgan.

Market sentiment

The market breadth was strong as gaining stocks outnumbered the declining ones. On the BSE, out of the 3,105 stocks, 1,928 rose while 1,066 fell. Hundred and eleven stocks remained unchanged.

Sectoral & stock screening

All in green was on the sectoral indices front. BSE IT was the leading sector, gained by 3.15%. BSE TECk and BSE Capital goods (CG) rose by 2.72% and 2.68% respectively. The rest of the sectors were up in the range of 0.91-2.51%.

Among 'A' group stocks, top gainers were - Vijaya Bank up by 7.68%, Syndicate Bank surged by 5.39% and Petronet LNG rose by 5.27%. Top losers were - Exide Industries slid by 3.08%, Mundra Port fell by 2.55% and Shriram Transport declined by 2.11%.

Viewing volumes

Industrial finance company - IFCI was the traded the most, with over 0.65 crore shares changing hands on the BSE, followed by wind turbine major - Suzlon Energy (0.36 crore shares), a public sector bank - Vijaya Bank (0.36 crore shares), a government hydro power firm - NHPC (0.24 crore shares) and India's second largest developers - Unitech (0.24 crore shares).

Global signals

European indices surged after minutes from the US Federal Reserve meeting suggested that it may take further action to boost the economy, with technology stocks higher on upbeat fourth quarter forecast by Intel.

All the major Asian indices closed in the positive terrain. Hang Seng, Jakarta Composite and Straits times surged over 1% each.

The US stock index futures point to a higher opening on the Wall Street tonight. The investors will keep an eye on the earnings of JP Morgan, Apollo Group and Host Hotels & Resorts.