Nifty re-conquers 5900…realty, metal stocks shine

The Indian stock market in India extended its upswing for the second consecutive trading session on Wednesday. The NSE Nifty index ended above the 5900 mark for the first time since April 2011 led by Realty, Metals, Oil & Gas, Banking and the PSU stocks. Even the Mid-Caps and the Small-Caps participated in today’s run. The market managed to register gains ahead of the voting for the FDI in Retail in the parliament. Even the service PMI index which expanded at slowest rate in 13 months was unable to dampen the sentiment. The HSBC India Composite Output Index posted 53.2 in November, slightly down from 53.5 in October, signalling a further improvement in activity at Indian private sector firms. Although solid, the rate of expansion was the slowest in 12 months. Manufacturing and services companies both recorded increases, although power shortages hampered manufacturing production. Finally, BSE Sensex closed at 19401, up 53 points over the previous close. It had earlier touched a day's high of 19463 and a day's low of 19371. It opened at 19397. The NSE Nifty closed at 5,900.5, up 11 points over the previous close. It earlier touched a day’s high of 5,918 and a day’s low of 5891. It opened at 5,906. "The Nifty is oscillating in a range of 5860-5950 levels. If the ruling government manages to swing votes with a considerable majority, the market could see some excitement. Even globally, the political wrangling over the fiscal cliff continues keeping investors jittery," says Amar Ambani, Head of Research, IIFL. RIL, Tata Steel, ONGC, L&T, Dr Reddys Lab, HDFC Bank, DLF, BPCL, NTPC, Tata Motors, Sterlite Inds, SBI, Hero MotoCorp, were among gainers in Sensex and Nifty. TCS, Wipro, Infosys, Tata Power, Bajaj Auto, Coal India, HCL Tech, HDFC, ICICI Bank, BHEL, HUL Bharti Airtel were among losers in Sensex and Nifty. The INDIA VIX on NSE was up 4.5% to end at 16.62. It hit a day’s high of 16.72 and a day’s low of 14.79. L&T secured an order valued at over Rs7.32bn from Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) for the Rajasthan Atomic Power Plant (RAPP). L&T bagged the order against stiff competition. Facebook Inc the social-network operator will join the Nasdaq 100 index, replacing Infosys Ltd. According to reports, Infosys will transfer the listing of its ADS to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) from the Nasdaq. Shares of Infosys ended lower by 2% to close at Rs2388. Global Select Market (Nasdaq). It is also seeking to list its ADS on the Paris and London exchanges of NYSE Euronext. Eli Lilly & Co and Strides Arcolab Limited announced a collaboration to expand delivery of cancer medicines in the emerging markets. Globally, Asian markets ended with smart gains on Wednesday. The Nikkei index in Japan was up 0.4%, the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 2.2%, Straits Times ended higher by 0.45% and Kospi index rose 0.61%. The ASX 200 index in Australia rose by 0.3% after the country’s GDP grew a seasonally adjusted 0.5% in the three months to Sept. 30. The data was just below market expectations of 0.6%. On an annual basis, GDP grew 3.1%in line with expectations. The Shanghai Composite index in China surged by ~3% on Wednesday. The country’s services sector slowed for a second straight month in November, although they remain in expansion for now. China services PMI eased to 52.1 registering the second weakest reading in 15 months. In Europe, stocks were trading higher and opened the session with solid gains tracking Asian markets on Wednesday. The upswing was led by the banking and the resource stocks. The FTSE index in UK was up 0.5%, DAX index in Germany gained 0.5% and CAC index in France added 0.63%. The PMI index in UK, for the 17-nation euro zone rebounded from a 40-month low in the month of November. However, despite a strong rebound still continues to signal a deep contraction in private-sector output. The index rose to 46.5 in November from October's 40-month low of 45.7.