Sensex spikes ~1%...Nifty reclaims 5100

The Indian stock markets ended near day's high on Tuesday at the end of a choppy session as investors returned to the street after the previous session's big sell-off. The NSE Nifty closed above the 5100 mark, led by gains in Oil & Gas, FMCG, Pharma, PSU and Capital Goods indices. The IT index finished in the negative territory. The broader market didn't participate in the rally today, with the Mid-cap and the Small-cap stocks under-performing their Large-Cap peers. Today’s smart upswing came despite the rupee declining below 56-per-dollar mark. The undercurrent remained weak in the wake of the RBI's "status quo" mid-quarter policy review, Fitch Ratings' downgrade of India's outlook and lingering fears over the simmering eurozone debt crisis. Dollar demand from domestic oil refining companies and other importers remains pretty high. The BSE Sensex ended at 16,860 gaining by 1% or 154 points. It had earlier touched a day’s high of 16,890 and a day’s low of 16,681. It opened at 16,681. The NSE Nifty settled at 5104 up by 40 points or 0.8%. It touched a day’s low of 5,048 and day’s high of 5,114. Ambuja Cement, Gail, Siemens, Reliance Industries, ITC, Ranbaxy, IDFC, Bharti Airtel and BPCL were the notable gainers on the Sensex and the Nifty today. Sesa Goa, Sterlite Industries, Infosys, Cairn India, PNB, Tata Power, SAIL, BHEL, Kotak Bank and Bajaj Auto were among the losers on the Nifty. The INDIA VIX on the NSE lost by 5.1% to close at 21.43. It hit days high of 22.60. It hit a low of 21.04. The market breadth on the BSE was almost even, 1350 stocks advanced and 1321 stocks declined. The broader markets chose to ignore gains in the key indices and closed nearly unchanged. The BSE Small-Cap index ended absolutely flat while BSE Mid-Cap index rose ~0.2% Almost all sectoral indices finished in the green, barring IT, which ended down only 0.1%. Oil&Gas, FMCG, Pharma, PSU, Capital Goods, Bankex and Auto were the gainers. Teck, Metals, Realty, Power and Consumer Durables indices were subdued. Shares of oil marketing companies IOC, HPCL and BPCL surged on expectation of partial decontrol in diesel price and increase in regulated products prices. In addition, crude oil futures in the international market fell sharply, with the Brent in London falling below US$95 per barrel. While petrol has been decontrolled since last year and prices move according to international crude futures and currency fluctuations, diesel, the more politically sensitive fuel, has not witnessed a price hike since June last year. Shares of IOC ended at Rs250, up 3.6% over the previous close. It had touched a day’s high of Rs. 251.50 and a day’s low of Rs24. Shares of HPCL shut at Rs320, up 6% over the previous close. It had touched a day’s high of Rs. 322 and a day’s low of Rs301. Shares of BPCL closed Rs. 751 up 1.7% over the previous close. It had touched a day’s high of Rs. 758 and a day’s low of Rs. 737.25. Oil prices declined for a second successive day in New York after Greek leaders said that they would form a group to renegotiate the terms of the international bailout and borrowing costs in Spain increased. Nymex oil futures slid as much as 1.2%. European stocks gained for a third day, as Greece moved toward forming a government and a Spanish debt sale met targets, partially offsetting a decline in German investor confidence. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures advanced 0.2% while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index slipped less than 0.1%. The G-20 leaders meeting in Mexico are focusing on how to resolve Europe’s financial crisis amid doubts over Greece's commitment to tough budget cuts and growing worries about contagion risks in Spain. The euro-area’s G-20 governments will commit to protecting the currency union, according to an excerpt of a draft of the statement that leaders will issue at the summit’s close. European Union leaders preparing to discuss the path to closer political and economic union at a summit in Brussels on June 28-29. China will contribute US$43bn to the IMF's expanded warchest to shield the global economy from any new financial crisis, a G-20 official was quoted as saying. India and Russia earlier announced that they would contribute US$10bn each. The US Federal Reserve's policy makers will begin a two-day meeting today to consider measures to stimulate the world’s biggest economy. The dollar was down against the euro ahead of the FOMC policy meeting. On the BSE-500 index, Persistent Systems, HPCL, Uttam Galva, Strides Arcolab and GVK Power were the top gainers. OnMobile Global, 3i Infotech, PI Industries and Sujana Towers were the losers on the index.