Firm global cues boost markets for 5th day; Sensex up 201 pts

The Indian markets extended rally and closed the trade on a buoyant note with the support coming in from global equities and improved FII inflows

Major headlines

Bharat Electronics FY11 consolidated net profit up 19%

Supreme Court grants interim relief to Tata Motors

Apollo to Invest up to Rs2,250 crore in Welspun Group



Indian indices

Markets were in gaining momentum for the fifth day and ended above psychological resistance levels. Positive global cues ahead of Greece parliament's vote on austerity package boosted sentiments. Sustained buying by foreign investors also led the rally. It was really a nice come back for the Nifty from the 5200 level to close today's session above 5600 for the first time since May 2, 2011. The markets stood at two-month highs at the close.

Sensex movements: The Sensex rose 60 points at 18552 (day’s low) in the opening trade. The index moved higher, ext ending rally to touch the day’s high of 18715. The Sensex closed the trade 201 points higher at 18694 and the Nifty stood at 5600, up by 55 points.

Bonds & Rupee

India’s 10-year bonds declined for a third day, pushing yields to a two-week high, on concern that a rise in oil prices will accelerate the pace of inflation and raise the odds of another interest-rate increase. India’s rupee gained the most in a week on optimism that global funds are stepping up purchases of the nation’s assets to benefit from growth in Asia’s third-biggest economy.

Market sentiment

The market breadth stood healthy, with 1,795 shares gaining, 1,056 shares falling and 129 stocks remained unchanged.

Viewing volumes

One of the fastest growing integrated infrastructure enterprises of India - Lanco Infratech was traded the most, with over 2.30 crore shares changing hands on the BSE. It was followed by India's second largest real estate developer - Unitech (0.32 crore shares), a Jaypee Group firm - Jaiprakash Associates (0.24 crore shares), India's largest sugar refiner - Shree Renuka Sugars (0.19 crore shares) and one of the world's premier engineering solutions providers - Voltas (0.17 crore shares).

Sectoral & stock screening

All the 13 sectoral indices ended the session in green. BSE Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) was the top performer rising by 2.58%, following that BSE Metal up by 1.52% and BSE Bankex gained by 0.96%. Other sectors closed higher in the range of 0.02-0.95%.

In 'A' group stocks, Shree Renuka Sugars was the major gainer, up by 8%, followed by Colgate-Palmolive up by 7.75% and Shree Cement advanced by 6.59%. On losers' side, Bajaj Holdings fell the most by 5.29%, followed by Gujarat State Petronet and Union Bank of India down by 2.71% each.

Global signals

The European stocks advanced on Wednesday on optimism that Greek lawmakers will agree to proposed austerity measures that will result in the country winning a bailout package sponsored by the International Monetary Fund and the European Union.

The Asian markets closed in the positive terrain on Wednesday. Shanghai Composite was the only loser, down by 1.11%. Jakarta Composite was shut today.

The US stock index futures signal higher opening on the Wall Street on Wednesday.

Market Outlook: P ending Home Sales data will be out in the US on Wednesday.