Adieu Samvat 2067: Markets at all-time high

The domestic markets sign off the Samvat 2067 on a sensational note, touching an all-time high owing to buoyant world markets and stellar listing of Coal India

Major headlines

Coal India enters stock markets with a big-bang; the stock ends 39.73% higher

Food inflation eases to 12.85%

Engineers India Q2 profit up 14% yoy; the stock closes 0.01% lower



Indian indices

Bulls were in a festive mood, as today’s session appeared to be a real Diwali celebration for markets. The domestic markets closed at a record high, as foreign buying of the equities surged to an all-time high on the expectation that consumer spending will boost corporate earnings. According to the closing basis data, it is the highest point till date. Large cap stocks showed strength and tremendous buying interest was seen in the newly listed Coal India.

This year’s 20% rally makes the Sensex the best performer among the world’s 10 biggest stock markets. Foreign fund inflows have surged 80%, helping to absorb the nation’s largest initial share sale by Coal India and making the gauge the most expensive in Asia and among the BRIC markets that also include Brazil, Russia and China.

Food inflation softened to 12.85% for the week ended October 23, 2010 as compared to 13.75% seen in the previous week.

Coal India was the showstopper of the day, after the stock made its stellar debut on the bourses and end the first day of trading 40% higher.

The Sensex began the session 130 points higher at 2065 tracking strong Asian cues, making that level its day’s low. The index started to rise as the session progressed. The Sensex continued its northward journey in the afternoon session tracking the buoyant European indices. In late trades, the index hit its day’s high of 20917 - this was the highest level since January 2008 - as buying intensified across all the sectors.

At finishing line, the Sensex closed at record closing high of 20894, up by 428 points. The Nifty shut at 6282, higher by 121 points.

Bonds and Rupee update: India’s 12-year bonds halted a six-day gain on speculation that a US plan to release cash by buying debt will spur fund inflows to emerging markets, boosting money supply and stoking inflation. India’s rupee rose for a third day, its longest winning streak in three weeks, after the Federal Reserve’s decision to ease monetary policy boosted the appeal of higher-yielding emerging-market assets.

Sectoral and stock screening

All the 13 sectoral indices closed higher except BSE Consumer Durables (CD) that ended in the red, down by 0.10%. BSE Oil & Gas was the major gainer, up by 2.77% led by Reliance Industries, followed by BSE Metal that surged by 2.27% and BSE Bankex rose by 2.12%.

Looking into 'A' group stocks, top three gainers were - Dish TV up by 5.69%, Hindustan Zinc surged by 5.48% and IDBI Bank advanced by 5.24%. Top three losers were - Rashtriya Chemicals slid by 5.67%, followed by National Fertilisers that fell by 4.98% and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam declined by 2.95%.

Viewing volumes

Industrial finance company - IFCI was traded the most, with over 0.33 crore shares changing hands on the BSE, followed by PSU bank - IDBI Bank (0.30 crore shares), DTH service provider - Dish TV India (0.26 crore shares), JP Group firm - Jaiprakash Associates (0.25 crore shares) and Essar Group firm - Essar Oil (0.23 crore shares).

Global signals

European shares rose to their highest level since April after the US Federal Reserve unveiled a plan to buy assets, while BHP Billiton jumped after Canada blocks its Potash bid.

Asian indices closed in the positive territory. Japan's Nikkei index surged over 2%.

The US stock index futures point to a higher opening on the Wall Street ahead of the initial Job Claims.

Market Outlook: We have Jobless Claims and Natural Gas report data to be announced in the US tonight.