Sensex ends 199 points higher as heavyweights support

The Indian markets showed strength in late trade, with the Sensex closing 199 points higher and the Nifty rising by 54 points

Major headlines

September inflation at 9.72% versus 9.78% in August

Kingfisher Airlines drops as HPCL stops jet fuel sales

Century Textiles rises on buzz of demerger of cement business

SpiceJet gains on share allotment to Kalanidhi Maran

Cable service providers rise for 2nd day

CRISIL board to consider buyback



Indian indices

The Indian markets remained volatile for most part of the day but shot up in late trade to close the session on a strong note. Good gains in heavyweights like RIL, TCS, Wipro, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, ICICI Bank, ITC, Jindal Steel and Tata Motors were leading the markets higher. Technology, oil & gas, FMCG, auto, banking and pharma stocks were on the buyers’ radar, which kept the markets strong. Positive European cues also added to gains. A marginal drop in inflation was also cheered by markets though it remained above the RBI’s comfort level. The Sensex crossed the 17000 mark and the Nifty went above 5100 level.

Sensex movements: The Sensex kick-started today’s trade lower by 47 points at 16837 and within seconds slipped to intraday lows of 16828. Later the index turned volatile and also witnessed a lacklustre trade. However, the index made a stronger move upwards in the late trade on the back of support from heavyweights and positive European peers to hit the intraday highs 17112. The Sensex shut shop at 17083, up by 199 points and the Nifty stood higher by 54 points at 5132.

Market sentiment

The market breadth stood in favour of advances. Of the 2892 stocks traded on the BSE, 1431 (49.48%) rose, 1331 (46.02%) fell and 130 (4.50%) remained unchanged.

Viewing volumes

India's largest automobile company – Tata Motors was traded the most with over 0.25 crore shares changing hands on the BSE. Then comes an industrial finance company – IFCI (0.22 crore shares), Indian shipbuilder - Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering Company (0.20 crore shares), largest coal miner - Coal India (0.17 crore shares) and India's second largest developer - Unitech (0.17 crore shares).

Sectoral & stock screening

Among the 13 sectoral indices, nine indices closed in green. Top Gainers — BSE IT and BSE TECk rose by 2.61% each, BSE Oil & Gas up by 1.53% and BSE FMCG gained by 1.09%. Top Losers - BSE Realty down by 1.36%, BSE Metal down by 0.56% and BSE CG down by 0.47%.

In 'A' group stocks, top performers — CRISIL surged by 7.72%, United Phosphorus up by 7.31% and Indiabulls Financial Services rose by 5.46%. Top losers — United Spirits fell by 3.82%, Sesa Goa declined by 3.66% and Indraprastha Gas down by 3.37%.

Global indices

The European shares rose on Friday, boosted by hopes of progress toward a solution to the euro zone's debt crisis later this month, shrugging off a credit rating downgrade for Spain.

The Asian stocks were mostly lower on Friday as investors worried about uncertainty over corporate earnings and Europe's debt crisis while China said inflation eased but stayed high.

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

Market Outlook: Data releases in the US include Retail Sales, Import & Export Prices, Consumer Sentiment, Business Inventories and Treasury Budget.