Sensex surges on Greek bond swap...Nifty reclaims 5300

After several days of fall, the Indian stock indices managed to regain some of their groove back in Friday's session with both of them notching triple-digit gains. The catalyst for the day's solid rally came mostly from the overseas markets, where risk tolerance staged a comeback of sorts amid hope of the Greek debt swap sailing through comfortably.

Also, investors continued to digest positive to mixed economic data from across the globe even as central banks have largely maintained a 'status quo' on monetary policy to support economic growth. There was no specific trigger from domestic front today. If anything, the news was bad as exports growth nearly stalled in February while imports jumped, leading to a wider trade gap. The Commerce Secretary revised higher the FY12 trade deficit estimate.



However, it seems that the market participants were in no mood to take a backward step today. Even the rupee flared up slightly against the US dollar amid expectations that FII inflows will turn positive again.

Finally, the Sensex ended at 17,503, up 357 points or 2% from the last close. It earlier touched a day's high of 17,531 and day's low of 17,325.

The Nifty ended higher by 113 points to close at 5,334. It hit a day’s high of 5,242 and day’s low of 5,291.

Among the BSE sectoral indices, the BSE Metal index was the biggest gainer, up 4.7%. It was followed by BSE Capital Goods index, up 3.7%, while BSE Banking index and Consumer Durables index rose 3.6% and 3% respectively. On the other hand, only the BSE FMCG index ended lower by 0.12%.

The broader markets ended with gains as well with the BSE Mid-Cap index up 2.1% and the BSE Small-Cap index up 1.3%.

Notable gainers on the Sensex were Jindal Steel, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, L&T, Sterlite, HDFC and Tata Motors.

On the other hand, Wipro, ITC, Infosys, Hindustan Unilever and Gail were the notable losers on the Sensex.

The Indian VIX ended at 25.47; the index fell by 3.3% today. It hit an intra-day high of 26.33 and an intra-day low of 24.60.

After opening with a gap, the NSE Nifty managed to hold on to the gains throughout the day led by sustained strength in Metals, Capital Goods, Banking and Realty stocks. Auto, PSU, Power, Oil & Gas and Pharma indices also closed higher. On the flip side, select FMCG and IT stocks were among the laggards. Even Mid-Cap and the Small-Cap stocks ended with smart gains.

"So where do we go from here? It is unlikely to be a one-way street in the immediate future given the event risk involved ahead of the RBI policy move and the Union Budget. The outcome of assembly polls has not been favourable and expectations on reforms getting back on track have diminished. Some may yet see scope for a positive surprise from the RBI chief and the FM. Whether they oblige or not is anybody’s guess. It will be wise not to take any chances before the two big events next week," says Amar Ambani, Head of Research, IIFL.

In the overseas markets, European stock indices rose marginally after Greece said 85.5% of private bondholders voluntarily accepted its bond-swap offer, and it will activate collective-action clauses to push that total to 95.7%.

The FTSE index in UK was trading flat, the DAX in Germany was up 0.4% while the CAC 40 in France gained 0.2%.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average which crossed 10,000 milestone for the first time since August last year closed higher by 1.6% at 9,929.74 while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 1% to 4,212. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index and the Kospi in South Korea gained by ~0.9%. The Shanghai composite index in China was up 0.8%.

The rupee advanced, aided by a spurt in local shares and on hopes of increased FII inflows, as global risk appetite improved following Greece's successful debt swap deal.

Shares of Multi-commodity Exchange of India Ltd. (MCX) made a strong debut on the Indian bourses today. The stock surged 38% but lost some of the early morning steam by the close of trade. It settled at Rs. 1,294 on NSE compared to the issue price of Rs1,032 per share.

The stock started trading at ~Rs 1,408 on NSE. The stock touched an intra-day high of Rs1,428 and a day's low of Rs1,282. Total traded quantity on NSE stood at 7.9mn shares.

The bidding for the MCX IPO began on February 22 and closed in a price band of Rs860-1,032 per share.

MCX priced its IPO at the top of an indicative range after its issue received an overwhelming response from all categories of investors. The MCX issue was subscribed more than 54 times. The MCX issue attracted bids worth about Rs. 360bn.

Shares of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) extended gains after the company named K. Venkataramanan as its CEO and Managing Director. A.M. Naik, the current MD, will continue as executive chairman.