Sensex ends 272 points higher ahead of RBI monetary policy

The Indian markets stayed higher throughout the day on the back of positive global cues and ahead of RBI monetary policy. The Sensex closed 272 points higher while the Nifty rose 84 points. Major Headlines of the Day: PSU bank employees threatens for a strike on June 25-26 Petrol price may be cut by up to Rs2 a litre today UltraTech, Lafarge in talks to buy JP Assoc cement biz Tata Motors up on rise of 12% in global vehicle May sales Pranab Mukherjee may quit as FM on June 24 Indian Indices Indian indices faced a healthy trading session after a sharp fall in the previous trade. Markets maintained its uptrend all throughout the day to close the session on a strong note. All the sectors were under the buyer’s radar. The major heavyweight gainers were- ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, HDFC Bank, ITC, RIL, L&T, TCS. The Nifty was trading above 5,100, while the Sensex was trading above 16,900 throughout the day. Positive sentiments from the Asian markets backed by strong European cues acted as a major support today. The broader markets were in line with the benchmark indices. The BSE Midcap index ended the day with rise of 0.57% while BSE Smallcap index was up by 0.46%. Market breadth was positive at close. The Sensex closed at 16949.83, up by 271.95 points, while the Nifty rose by 84.30 points to close at 5,139.05. The markets witnessed a rising trend with the help of gains in global markets, rising rupee and gains in heavyweights. Tracking on stock specific actions, JP Associates gained on reports that Aditya Birla Group and Lafarge are eyeing its cement business that could fetch JP group Rs9000 crore. At end of the day, the stock closed 3.03% higher. Tata Motors' shares surged after the company said sales of its luxury vehicles Jaguar Land Rover jumped 35% to 30,094 in May 2012 over May 2011.The stock closed 5.29% higher. Also the shares of Deccan Chronicle surged on the buzz that the company is considering a stake sale in its IPL team Deccan Chargers. After the market hours, stock was up 9.57%. Jyothy Laboratories and Henkel India surged after the company announced that its board of directors approved the amalgamation of Henkel India with the Jyothy Laboratories in a meeting held today. At the end of the session, Jyothy Lab closed 0.81% lower and Henkel India rose by 8.88%. Focussing on important news of the day, State-run OMC's are likely to cut petrol prices by Rs2 a litre in their fortnightly price review which is scheduled for Friday, June 15. This will be the second price cut since OMCs first hiked petrol prices by Rs6.28 a litre on May 23. On the other hand, Public sector bank (PSUs) employees have threatened to go on a two-day strike on July 25 and 26, 2012 against the proposed banking law amendments, outsourcing by banks, HR matters and other issues. The strike was called by the All India Bank Employees's Association (AIBEA). The major highlight of the day was that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee may resign from his post on June 24, 2012 to enter the fray for India's next president, as per the reports on Friday (June 15, 2012). Talking about currency, Rupee was trading at 55.67/68, near the day's highs, tracking higher domestic stocks and a rally in global risk assets. The pair closed at 55.80/81 on Thursday (June 14, 2012). Market sentiment: The market breadth stood in favour of advances. Of the 2849 stocks traded on the BSE, 1403 (49.25%) rose, 1301 (45.67%) fell and 145 (5.09%) stocks remained unchanged Sectoral & stock screening: Among the 13 sectoral indices, nine ended with gains over 1% each, while two, BSE Auto index and BSE Bankex, gathered more than 2%. Among 'A' group stocks, Top losers: Sterlite Ind (down by 1.57%), Bajaj Auto (fell by 1.41%) and ONGC (declined by 0.67%). Top gainers: Tata Motors (surged by 5.75%), ICICI Bank (up by 3.11%), Coal India (rose by 2.72%). Global signals: Asian indices ended flat on Friday as a risk-off atmosphere pervaded ahead of a pivotal election in Greece at the weekend, but the losses of Japan's Nikkei were tempered by an overnight report that central banks were prepared to offset potential market turmoil. European shares advanced today as the financial stocks rose on expectations of new central bank measures to deal with the risk of a Greeks probable exit from the euro zone. US stock index futures pointed to a higher opening at the Wall Street on Friday. Market Outlook: Data to be released in the US on Friday: Industrial Production, Consumer Sentiment, Empire State Mfg Survey, Treasury International Capital.