Markets rise for 3rd day; Sensex ends 119 points higher

Indian markets maintained its uptrend for third straight day and closed the rangebound session in positive terrain. The Sensex ended with 119 points gain and the Nifty rose 41 points. Major Headlines: Govt cuts import tariff value of gold to $539 BHEL FY-12 profit rises to Rs6,868 cr Few banks cut home loan rates; Realty stk up Aviation stk boom on report of foreign airlines likely to pick up stake Indian Indices Indian markets maintained its uptrend for the third consecutive day. Today’s rise was led by buying in consumer durables, capital goods, oil & gas, metal, banking, PSU and realty sector. Index heavyweights like RIL, ICICI Bank, L&T, SBI, HDFC, ONGC and Tata Motors were also strong supporters to the market. Overall, broad-based buying lifted the Sensex up to close at 17550 and Nifty ended above the 5350 mark. Indian rupee appreciated to 50.50 a dollar, gained 15 paise to 50.72 a dollar. On the news front, Reserve Bank of India ( RBI) is likely to cut rates in credit policy scheduled to be held on April 17. On the sectoral and stocks front, in Capital Goods BHEL was the top gainer and closed 3% higher. The company reported provisional numbers for the fiscal ending March 2012. The net profit of Rs6,868 crore on revenue of Rs49,301 crore for the 2011-12 financial year. The company also withdrew its DRHP with SEBI on September 28, 2011. Sources state BHEL may look for options other than Follow on Public Offer ( FPO) for divestment. Shares of broadcasting companies also surged quite sharply in the afternoon trade today post news reports that the government may clear foreign direct investment ( FDI) cap in broadcasting services. The government may also consider a proposal to increase FDI cap to 74% from current 49%. The benchmark indices started on a strong note triggered by favourable sentiments from global markets. The Sensex gained over 100 points at the opening bell; from then on the market was quite range-bound. Finally, the Sensex ended at 17597, gained by 119 points and the Nifty stood at 5358, up by 41 points. Market sentiment The market breadth stood in favour of advances. Of the 2936 stocks traded on the BSE, 1796 (61.17%) rose, 1023 (34.84%) fell and 117 (3.99%) remained unchanged. Viewing volumes Wind turbine major - Suzlon Energy was traded the most, with over 0.57 crore shares changing hands on the BSE. Following that an integrated infrastructure development company - Lanco Infratech (0.54 crore shares), Manappuram Finance - a non-banking financial company (0.47 crore shares), a real estate development company - HDIL (0.33 crore shares) and a DTH satellite television provider in India - Dish TV India (0.33 crore shares). Sectoral & stock screening Among the 13 sectoral indices, ten closed higher. The topmost gainers were BSE CD which gained 2.14%, BSE CG up 1.65% and BSE Oil & Gas advanced 1.56%. The losers were - BSE HC which dipped 0.45%, BSE Auto fell 0.19% and BSE IT slid 0.06% Among 'A' group stocks, top three gainers were - NALCO which jumped 11.20%, Manappuram Finance surged 9.91% and Essar Oil gained 9.63%. Top three losers were - Pidilite Industries which declined 3.42%, Opto Circuits dropped 2.69% and DR.Reddy's Laboratories fell 2.63%. Global Signals The European stock markets gave up some of their previous session's gains on Tuesday (April 3, 2012) as investors sought further signs of improvement in the global economy before chasing risky assets higher. The Asian stock markets rose on Tuesday, led by positive US manufacturing data. US stock index futures pointed towards slightly lower opening at Wall Street on Tuesday. As the Dow Jones futures were down by 0.07% and Nasdaq 100 futures were down by 0.01%. Market Outlook: Data to be released in the US on Tuesday is: - FOMC Minutes, Factory Orders and Motor Vehicle Sales.