Bulls stand strong; Sensex ends 354 points higher

The Indian markets maintained its uptrend and closed at a three and half month high. The Sensex up 354 points and the Nifty up 114 points
Headlines for the day
Govt OKs stake sale in ONGC
RIL KG-D6 output may fall to all-time low; stock falls
Tata Motors global vehicle sales up 21% in Jan
Max India gains as New York Life to exit India JV
Voltas gains after Q3 numbers



Indian indices
It was a Bulls’ day, with the Indian markets moving northwards all throughout the session and did not turn back. The global sentiments were bullish on hopes of Greek deal. Consistent buying was seen across the board, which pushed the Sensex above the 18000 mark and the Nifty above 5500. Sustained inflows from foreign institutional investors were driving the markets higher. The Indian markets closed at a three and half month high.
Sensex movement: Positive Asian cues pushed the Sensex higher by 152 points at 18000 in the opening trade. The index strengthened further and remained healthy on continuous buying activity. Strong opening of European stocks aided the rally and led the index to touch an intraday high of 18231 in late trade. The Sensex surged 354 points to settle at 18202 and the Nifty stood at 5532, up by 116 points.
Market sentiment
The market breadth stood in favour of advances. Of the 3079 stocks traded on the BSE, 1896 (61.58%) rose, 1081 (35.11%) fell and 102 (3.31%) remained unchanged.
Viewing volumes
An integrated infrastructure development company - Lanco Infratech was traded the most, with over 1.47 crore shares changing hands on the BSE. Following that an engineering and cooling solutions company - Voltas (0.85 crore shares), a part of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group - Reliance Power (0.81 crore shares), wind turbine major - Suzlon Energy (0.80 crore shares) and India's second largest developer - Unitech (0.69 crore shares).
Sectoral & stock screening
All the sectors ended in green barring BSE Oil & Gas down by 0.32%. The topmost gainers — BSE Realty surged by 5.01%, BSE CG soared by 4.01% and BSE Power jumped by 3.56%.
Among 'A' group stocks, top three gainers were - Voltas shot up by 25.07%, Adani Power gained by 13.08% and Reliance Power jumped by 12.74%. The top three losers were - Educomp Solutions dropped by 4.49%, India Securities fell by 3.43% and TTK Prestige slipped by 2.32%.
Global indices:
The European stocks rose on Wednesday (February 15, 2012), following better-than-feared economic data from Germany and France, and as debt-stricken Greece appeared to be nearing a political consensus on painful budget cuts.
The Asian stocks closed higher on Wednesday after China indicated plans to expand its support to Europe as the region grapples with debt woes.
The US stock index futures pointed to a higher open for equities on the Wall Street on Wednesday.
Market Outlook: Data to focus in the US on Wednesday — FOMC Minutes, Industrial Production, Housing Market Index, EIA Petroleum Status Report, Treasury International Capital and Empire State Manufacturing Survey.