Tough victory for Bulls on D-Street: Nifty ends above 6500

Markets edged higher in late trades led by buying index heavyweights and short covering in financial shares. The BSE Sensex rose 0.16% and NSE Nifty was up by 0.17%
Major Headlines:
February WPI eases at 4.68% Vs 5.05% (MoM)
Earnings warning dents sentiment, price target revised
Premium deferment to help improve cash flow position
Mphasis Q1 net profit drops by 2% (YoY)
Indian Indices:
Bulls some how managed to regain their position on D Street today. The Indian markets started the last trading session of the week in the red zone. It was a completely dull session for the Indian equity benchmarks due to lack of local and global cues. Sectors like CG, Realty, Power, Oil & Gas, Metal, Auto and FMCG led some support to the markets, while the Banking, TECk, CD, IT, and PSU added pressure. The major S&P BSE Sensex gainers were L&T, ITC, Infy, RIL, Tata Motors, Sun Pharma and Dr. Reddy.
Markets staged smart recovery in late afternoon session after a range-bound day of trades this Friday ignoring weak global cues. The recovery in markets was led by due to index heavyweights and short covering in financial shares. The continued strong foreign buying boosted blue-chips such as Larsen & Toubro, although some caution also set in about the pace of recent gains.
On the macro economic front, the monthly inflation eased to a nine-month low in February as food and fuel prices moderated, raising expectations that the RBI would leave interest rates unchanged at its policy review next month.
Broader markets were weak with the S&P BSE Midcap down 0.23% and S&P BSE Smallcap fell by 0.34% at end of the day.
The Sensex closed at 21,810, up 35 points while the Nifty gained 11 points to close above the psychological 6,500 levels at 6,504.
Events for the day:
India's wholesale prices-based inflation eased to a nine-month low of 4.68% in February, helped mainly by moderating food prices, government data showed on Friday.
Market sentiment:
The market breadth stood in favour of declines. Of the 2903 stocks traded on the BSE, 1162 (40.03%) rose, 1587 (54.67%) fell and 154 (5.30%) stocks remained unchanged.
Sectoral & stock screening
Among the sectoral indices: Top Gainers: S&P BSE CG up by 1.85%, S&P BSE Realty rose 1.00% and S&P BSE Auto up 0.94%. Top Losers: S&P BSE PSU down 0.71%, S&P BSE Bankex down 0.68% and S&P BSE Teck down 0.56%
Among 'A' group stocks, top three gainers were- Crompton Greaves rose 4.63%, GMDC up by 3.92% and DLF surged 3.86%. Top three losers were- L&T Finance slipped 6.19%, Financial Tech down by 4.51% and MCX fell by 4.47%
Following are the stocks/sectors which were in news today:
1. L&T Finance Holdings shares fell 6.19% after the non-banking financial company set a floor price for its stake sale at Rs70 per share, or an 11.5% discount to its Thursday closing price.
2. Shares of Tech Mahindra rose 0.19%, after the central bank on Thursday allows the company to increase the foreign investment limit to up to 48% of its paid-up capital from 45%.
3. Astrazeneca Pharma India jumped 8.82%, after the company scheduled a board meeting on March 15, 2014 to consider voluntary delisting proposal.
Global Signals:
US stock index futures poised for a slightly higher opening at the Wall Street on Friday.
European shares fell to five-week lows on Friday, with German blue chips among the worst hit, as tensions in Ukraine ahead of a weekend referendum unnerved investors
Asian markets fell against the dollar as jitters over heightened tensions in Ukraine and worries over an economic slowdown in China curbed investors' appetite for riskier assets.