Nifty ends above 5400…ONGC, RIL lead

Just when we thought that short sellers seem to be increasing and markets would tank further, the last half an hour of the session saw cash based buying in the Nifty scrip’s which lifted the NSE Nifty to shit over 5400 levels, while the BSE Sensex ended above the 18,000 levels.

Markets started off with positive bias on the back of firm Asian markets following overnight gains in the US and European markets. Key indices were stuck in a very narrow range between 5380-5400 levels and struggled for direction. However, a sudden bout of buying in the index heavyweights like ONGC, DLF, Hero Honda, Gail and HUL lifted the NSE Nifty to end above the 5400 levels.



Markets players even seemed to have ignored rising food inflation. The annual rate of inflation in the food space increased sharply in the middle of May, spiking above the 8% mark. Inflation in Food Articles rose to 8.55% in the week ended May 14 from 7.47% in the previous week.

"In the coming days, crude oil prices will be watched closely; with crude oil back above US$100per barrel rising to a two-week high in New York. The dollar index would also be in focus which hovers around 76 levels. In addition, concerns prevail over the fiscal health of peripheral eurozone nations. Technically, Nifty has attempted to test Tuesdays peak of 5,422 which was the upper shadow of the spinning top and as spinning top is considered to be an indecisive pattern a close above 5,430 should confirm a trend reversal," says Amar Ambani, Head of Research (India Private Clients) - IIFL.

The BSE Sensex ended at 18,044 adding 197 points. It had earlier touched a day's high of 18,072 and a day's low of 17,862. It opened at 17,917. While, the NSE Nifty closed at 5,412 adding 63 points.

During the May F&O series the NSE Nifty declined by 6.5%, with index heavyweight SBI losing over 23%, Reliance Communication plunged 19%, Reliance Infra dropped 19%. On the other hand, Ranbaxy and Hero Honda shot up over 10% and Hindustan Unilever rose 8%.