Sensex extends rally, closes 149 points higher

Buying in heavyweights like RIL, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications contributed positively in today’s trade. The Sensex up 149 points and the Nifty up 46 points

Major headlines

Bank of India Q1 net profit falls 29%

Patni Q2 consolidated net loss at Rs52 crore

NTPC Q1 net profit rises 13%



Indian indices

Markets extended rise for the second day after good gains were seen in index heavyweights like RIL, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, M&M and L&T. Auto, telecom, capital goods and pharma shares supported the markets. The Nifty hit highest level in more than two weeks and the Sensex hit its highest level in more than a week.

Sensex movements: The Sensex began the trade 31 points higher at 18753, comparing with the previous close of 18722. In early trade, the index touched the day’s low of 18671 and remained rangebound in the first half of the session. In afternoon trade, the Sensex showed smart rally and hit the day’s high of 18932 as heavyweights support. The Sensex rose 149 points to settle at 18871 and the Nifty shut 46 points to close at 5680.

Market sentiment

The market breadth stood strong with 1,609 shares rising, 1,274 shares declining and 121 shares traded unchanged.

Viewing volumes

A major Indian telecommunication company - Reliance Communications was traded the most, with over 1.03 crore shares changing hands on the BSE. It was followed by a large Indian business conglomerate - Lanco Infratech (0.93 crore shares), wind turbine major - Suzlon Energy (0.86 crore shares), India's third largest mobile operator - Idea Cellular (0.44 crore shares) and an Indian telecommunications company - Bharti Airtel (0.33 crore shares).

Sectoral & stock screening

All the sectoral indices ended in the positive territory except BSE FMCG down by 0.80%. BSE Auto and BSE TECk were the major gainers, surging by 1.38% each. Following that BSE CG rose by 1.23% and BSE HC up by 1.22%. Other sectors rallied in the range of 0.03-1.17%.

Coming to 'A' group stocks, Reliance Communications was the star performer, surging by 14.91%, then comes Idea Cellular up by 7.97% and Oriental Bank of Commerce jumped 6.77%. Among losers, Gujarat State Petronet fell the most by 3.65%, followed by Patni Computer Systems down by 3.24% and Godrej Consumer Products lost by 2.99%.

Global signals

The European shares fell on Monday from their highest in more than a week as investors shied away from equities on the possibility of the first-ever U.S. debt default after talks between Democrats and Republicans collapsed.

The Asian markets closed lower on Monday on US debt ceiling worries.

The US stock index futures dropped on Monday as a political impasse in Washington's debt ceiling talks fueled worries of a US default. The Wall Street is set to open lower on Monday.