IT stocks lead Sensex to close 465 points higher

The Indian markets continued its upward journey for the fourth consecutive session, with the major support coming in from the technology stocks

Major headlines

Financial Technologies up 7% on reports of MCX listing

Simbhaoli Sugars to hive off some units

Uflex set to launch PET plant in US



Indian indices

The Indian markets kept their heads high for the fourth straight session taking positive cues from the global indices. Aggressive buying was seen in the technology, banking, realty and capital goods stocks, which made the market’s day. The Indian markets surged to a two-month high level, with the Nifty touching the 5600 mark - an important psychological level. All the sectors performed better. Information Technology (IT) stocks were in the lime light today following encouraging earnings and outlook by the US technology companies.

The Sensex began the session 130 points higher at 18481 taking lead from the buoyant global markets and making such level its day’s low. The Sensex remained in the positive territory all throughout the day, climbing higher on the back of all-round buying. Massive buying in IT stocks set Sensex on fire to hit the day’s high of 18585 in late trade. The Sensex surged 465 points to close at 18816 and the Nifty settled at 5654, up by 132 points.

Bond update: India’s 11-year bonds extended gains, pushing yields to a two-week low, as central bank Deputy Governor Shyamala Gopinath said that the government will sell Rs2.5 trillion of bonds in the six months starting April 01, matching economists’ estimates. A decision to frontload borrowing will allow India to avoid a cash squeeze later when companies typically boost borrowing in the second half.

Market sentiment

The market breadth stood strong. Of the 3,040 stocks traded on the BSE, 1,727 surged while 1,199 fell. However, 114 stocks closed unchanged.

Sectoral and stock screening

All the sectoral indices closed on a higher note. BSE IT was the biggest gainer, rising by 4.02%. Following that BSE TECk rose by 3.49%, while BSE Bankex and BSE Realty gained by 2.72% each. Other sectors closed in the range of 0.37-2.23%.

Looking into 'A' group stocks, Financial Technologies was the major gainer, surging by 6.95%, followed by DLF up by 6.17% and Godrej Properties jumped by 5.60%. Among laggards, DB Realty was the top loser, falling by 3.39%, followed by Jubilant Life Science down by 3.22% and Pantaloon Retail slid by 2.37%.

Viewing volumes

India's second largest real estate developer - Unitech was traded the most for the second straight session, with over 0.89 crore shares changing hands on the BSE. Following that a leading home finance company - LIC Housing Finance (0.32 crore shares), India’s second largest telecom firm - Reliance Communications (0.22 crore shares), a leading infrastructure firm - Lanco Infratech (0.32 crore shares) and an engineering and construction firm- Hindustan Construction Company (0.20 crore shares).

Global signals

European shares climbed to two-week highs on Friday as stronger tech shares on Oracle's upbeat view on spending lent support, though persistent worries about the euro zone debt situation limited gains.

All the major Asian indices closed higher on Friday except Jakarta Composite down by 0.13%.

The US stock index futures point to a higher opening on the Wall Street on Friday ahead of final reading of fourth quarter GDP.

Market Outlook: In the US, final reading of fourth quarter GDP and the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index will be out.