Sensex spurts on reform hopes...Nifty holds 5700

After a brief pause in the previous trading session, the frontline Indian stock indices once again showed strength as investors resumed their shopping spree. The NSE Nifty ended above the 5700 mark while the BSE Sensex ended above the 18,700 level. However, after hitting the intra-day high of 5735 in early morning trades, the Nifty was seen gradually losing some ground. Still, the Large-Cap index managed to end above the 5700 mark. Auto, Consumer Durables, FMCG, Metals and Power indices were among the major gainers. However, the Realty index was under pressure. The Small-Cap index and the Mid-Cap index continued to be buoyant. The BSE Sensex closed at 18,762, up 183 points over the previous close. It had earlier touched a day's high of 18,870 and a day's low of 18,698. It opened at 18,704. The NSE Nifty ended at 5,703, up 54 points over the previous close. It earlier touched a day’s high of 5,735 and a day’s low of 5,683. It opened at 5,684. Hindalco, Power Grid, Sun Pharma, Tata Motors, JP associates, Bank of Baroda, Cipla and Tata Power were among the major gainers in Sensex and Nifty. While, Reliance Infra, IDFC, DLF, HCL Tech, BHEL, HDFC Bank and Infosys were among the major laggards in Sensex and Nifty. The INDIA VIX on NSE was down 4.4% at 16.16. It hit a day’s high of 16.91 and a day’s low of 16.13. On the currency front, the rupee is headed for its strongest quarterly gain since 2009 after FII inflows accelerated in the wake of the Government's decision to unveil a spate of economic reforms to boost GDP growth. FII inflows into Indian equities totaled US$3.5bn this month through Sept. 26, the biggest increase since February. The rupee is up ~5.% this quarter. This is the biggest three-month gain since June 2009 and the best performance in Asia. It touched 52.5675 earlier, the strongest level since April 30, and has gained 5.4% in September. The rupee has rebounded 8.8% from a record low of 57.3275 per dollar touched June 22. Globally, the Asian markets ended higher as Spain's pledge to meet fiscal deficit targets and new budget reforms raised optimism about the eurozone leaders' ability to address the three-year-long credit crisis. Speculation is also rife that Chinese policymakers will announce a fresh round of stimulus after industrial companies' profits contracted for a fifth straight month in August. The Nikkei Stock Average in Japan was down ~0.9% while the Shanghai Composite index rose by 1.5%. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 0.3%. South Korea’s Kospi index was up 0.4% while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained ~0.1%. Stock markets are closed the whole of next week on mainland China, and through Tuesday in Hong Kong, for public holidays. European equity benchmarks opened higher today, a day after Spain presented spending cuts and tax hikes worth 13 billion euros ($16.7 billion). Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s government on Thursday announced a new austerity package and economic reforms to reduce the nation’s budget deficit Spanish budget minister Cristobal Montoro Romero said that the government expects to meet its 2012 budget deficit estimate of 6.3% of GDP, while the deficit target for 2013 has been fixed at 4.5% of GDP. Sectoral indices were a sea of green barring Realty, which ended down 0.4%. Auto led the pack of gainers, up 1.9% followed by Consumer Durables, FMCG, Metals, Power and Pharma. Capital Goods, Bankex and IT also gained modestly. On the BSE 500 index, Birla Corp, Dalmia Bharat Enterprises, Noida Toll, GTL, GTL Infra, ICRA, Tata Global, SCI and Den Networks were the gaining stocks while United Breweries Holdings, United Breweries, Kemrock Inds and Kingfisher Airlines were the losing stocks on the index.