Mkts turnaround to end positive as banks support

The Indian markets saw an astounding turnaround in the last couple of hours and closed the session above key levels led by gains in banking and IT stocks.

Major headlines

Food inflation eases to 15.52%

Yes Bank Q3 net profit up 52% yoy

JSW Energy Q3 consolidated net profit at Rs153 crore



Indian indices

The Indian markets showed smart recovery in the last couple of hours after being under pressure for most part of the session. Banking stocks rallied after food inflation softened to 15.52% for the week ended January 08, 2011 as compared to 16.91% seen in the previous week. Buying emerged in banks and IT stocks leading the Sensex and the Nifty to close the trade above 19000 and 5700 levels. The Indian markets shrugged off weak global cues and shut an extremely volatile trade with modest gains.

In Mid-cap space, Britannia Industries, Sterling International and Mahindra & Mahindra Financial surged 7-8%, while Torrent Pharma, Kirloskar Brothers and HCL Infosystems fell 4-6%.

The Sensex started the session 86 points lower at 18892 on the back of weak global cues. The index remained in negative territory throughout the morning session. The Sensex hit the day’s low of 18795 at the start of the afternoon session. However from the day’s low, the index started to erase losses and turned positive in the last hour of trade to hit the day’s high of 19100 as buying was seen in banking and IT stocks.

The Sensex surged 68 points to close at 19047 and the Nifty ended at 5712, up by 21 points.

Market sentiment

The market breadth stood marginally negative. Out of the 2,944 stocks traded on the BSE, 1,416 fell while 1,332 gained. Whereas, hundred and ninety-six stocks remained unchanged.

Sectoral & stock screening

Among the 13 sectoral indices, eight closed in the green, while rest five ended in the red. BSE Bankex was the major gainer, up by 1.66%, followed by BSE Information Technology (IT) up by 1.13% and BSE TECk rose by 0.76%. While, BSE Oil & Gas dipped the most by 1.50%, followed by BSE Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) down by 1.19% and BSE Realty declined by 0.24%

In 'A' group stocks, top three gainers were - Mahindra & Mahindra Finance jumped by 7.52%, Indiabulls Financial Services rose by 5.21% and Cadila Healthcare up by 4.74%. Top three losers were - Thermax slid by 4.01%, Gail India dropped by 3.37% and Crompton Greaves fell by 3.36%.

Viewing volumes

Leading home finance company - LIC Hounding Finance was the most traded scrip with over 0.38 crore shares changing hands on the BSE, followed by industrial finance company - IFCI (0.32 crore shares), leading two-wheeler firm - TVS Motors (0.29 crore shares), wind turbine major - Suzlon Energy (0.28 crore shares) India’s second largest developer - Unitech (0.23 crore shares).

Global signals

The European equities inched lower, pressured by miners, as stronger-than-expected Chinese growth and inflation figures raised worries about further tightening from the world's top commodity consumer.

All the major Asian markets ended the session in the negative territory. China’s Shanghai Composite fell by 2.92%.

The US stock index futures point to a flat start on the Wall Street ahead of weekly jobless claims, while leading indicators and existing home sales for December. Google, Johnson Controls, Morgan Stanley and Advanced Micro Devices will announce results.

Market outlook: In the US, on the macro front, weekly jobless claims, leading indicators for December and existing home sales for December will be in focus. On the earnings’ front, investors awaited a flurry of results from companies such as Google, Johnson Controls, Morgan Stanley and Advanced Micro Devices.