Markets Up by About 6% At Close

Stocks cutting across sectors had one of their brightest outings in recent months as the bulls who thronged the major Indian bourses right at the stroke of the opening bell had their way till the very end of the session today.

A sharp upward revision in offer price for Bear Stearns buoyed up Wall Street yesterday and set the ball rolling in favour of the bulls today. Buying remained so strong and sustained that the market was moving in just one direction, up north, today. The sentiment was so upbeat that mid and smallcap stocks, which had taken a severe hammering in recent sessions, were also seen attracting strong buying enquiries.

While the Sensex, which opened with a positive gap of nearly 325 points at 15,612.61 and zoomed to a high of 16,262.38 in intra-day trades, ended at 16,217.49 with a thumping gain of 928.09 points or 6.07%, the Nifty recorded a whopping gain of 267.65 points or 5.81% as it settled at 4877.50. In intra-day trades today, the Nifty hit a high of 4896.80. It is the BSE barometer's second biggest single session gain ever. The biggest single day gain of 1139.92 points was recorded on January 25, 2008.

A fair amount of short-covering in the derivatives segment also contributed to the market's sharp upmove today. Thanks to widespread buying, all the sectoral indices ended with impressive gains. The Realty index which gained the most, went up by 9.48%. The Bankex and Consumer Durables indices gained more than 8%. The IT flared up by 7.73%. The Power, Metal, Teck, Oil & Gas, PSU, Capital Goods and Auto indices advanced by 4% - 6.5% while the Healthcare and FMCG indices firmed up by 2.36% and 2.14% respectively. The BSE Midcap spurted 6.36% while the Smallcap index posted a gain of 4.81%.

The market breadth remained pretty strong. Out of a total of 2762 stocks traded on BSE, 2074 stocks ended with gains. 641 stocks posted losses and 47 stocks ended at their previous closing levels. None of the Sensex components strayed into the red today. Sun Pharmaceuticals, the lone loser among Nifty stocks, ended lower by 2.15% at Rs 1252.80.

Jaiprakash Associates, the biggest gainer in the Sensex, shot up by 16.4%. DLF vaulted 13.5%. Reliance Energy powered its way up by nearly 13%. IT bellwether Infosys Technologies (9.65%), ICICI Bank (9.4%), Wipro (9.05%), HDFC (8.65%), BHEL (7.55%), ONGC (7.25%), Tata Steel (7%), Tata Consultancy Services (6.4%), Hindalco (6.05%) and HDFC Bank (6.05%) ended with hefty gains. Reliance Communications, State Bank of India, Reliance Industries, Satyam Computer Services, NTPC, Hindustan Unilever, Bharti Airtel, Maruti Suzuki and Larsen & Toubro gained 4% - 6%. ACC, Grasim Industries, Cipla, Mahindra & Mahindra, Ranbaxy Laboratories and Tata Motors moved up by 1% - 3%. Ambuja Cements and ITC missed out on the rally and settled marginally higher than their previous closing levels.

Unitech recorded a big gain of 10.25%. SAIL moved up by 7.2%. Cairn India, Tata Power, Tata Communications, Punjab National Bank, Reliance Petroleum, Hero Honda, ABB, Siemens, HCL Technologies, GAIL India, Power Grid, Idea Cellular, Zee Entertainment and Sterlite Industries notched up 3% - 7%. Nalco, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Suzlon Energy and BPCL also finished on a high note. Reliance Capital jumped by 17.25% to Rs 1324.25 on strong volumes. Reliance Natural Resources (6.65%) and Essar Oil (12.9%) also attracted strong buying enquiries today.

Source: Sify

Sensex Ends 295 Points Up

A few frontline stocks moved in a highly listless manner in afternoon trade and a few stocks even declined sharply on selling pressure. But the benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty, which had opened on a rousing note this morning, bounced back strongly from their lower levels and ended the session with impressive gains today.

While the Sensex which opened with a positive gap of nearly 100 points and swung in a range of nearly 350 points - it hit a high of 15,351.31 and a low of 15,056.09 today - ended with a gain of 294.57 points or 1.96% at 15,289.40, the Nifty settled with a gain of 0.78% or 35.90 points at 4609.85. In intra-day trades, the Nifty touched a high of 4649.45 and a low of 4539.80.

A smart recovery in global markets triggered some strong buying in blue chip stocks this morning. Though key stocks from banking, information technology and FMCG sectors held firm, realty, metal, power and capital goods stocks drifted lower on selling pressure. Select capital goods stocks, however, managed to bounce back in late afternoon trade. Automobile stocks had a mixed run. Oil stocks remained highly subdued and not much buying took place in pharma sector as well. Mid and smallcap stocks were hammered almost right through the session. Mirroring the sell-off in these segments today, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices tumbled by 2.66% and 3.77% respectively. The market breadth was weak right through the session. Out of 2717 stocks traded on BSE today, as many as 2149 stocks ended with losses. 534 stocks posted gains and 34 stocks ended at their previous closing levels.

Housing finance stock HDFC turned in a sparkling display and posted a handsome gain of 7.75%. Wipro shot up by nearly 6%. HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and State Bank of India, the banking sector heavyweights, ended stronger by 5.35%, 5% and 2.7% respectively. Hindustan Unilever notched up a gain of 4.35%. ACC firmed up by 3.8%. Larsen & Toubro (3.5%) and Bharti Airtel (2.95%) also finished with strong gains. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries, which remained subdued for a better part of the session, rallied smartly during the closing minutes to post a sharp gain of 1.95%.

Tata Steel went down by over 7% today. Reliance Energy closed with a loss of 4.6%. DLF lost 4%. Jaiprakash Associates and Maruti Suzuki eased by 1.8% and 1.3% respectively. Ranbaxy Laboratories (down 0.85%) and Hindalco (down 0.7%) also closed weak. NTPC and Cipla ended flat.

HCL Technologies (up 7.55% to Rs 274.05) was the biggest gainer in the Nifty today. Nalco flared up by 6.65%. Punjab National Bank gained a little over 5%. Tata Power, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, BPCL and Idea Cellular gained 3.5% - 4.5%. Sun Pharmaceutical, Tata Communications and Power Grid also closed with impressive gains.

Cairn India declined by 9.35% to Rs 202.60. SAIL (down 5.8%), Unitech (down 5.35%), Sterlite Industries (down 4.25%) and Suzlon Energy (down 2.2%) also ended with sharp losses. Gujarat NRE Coke lost 16.95% due to heavy selling at the counter. Brigade Enterprises eased by over 16%. Aban Offshore lost 16%. JSW Steel, India Bulls, Bajaj Hindustan, Essar Shipping, Areva, HMT, Parsvnath Developers and Deccan Aviation lost 9% - 12%. Bajaj Holdings, Moser Baer, Welspun Gujarat, Rajesh Exports, Akruti City, Triveni Engineering, Ispat Industries and Videocon Industries also finished with sharp losses today.

Source: Sify

Midcaps Plunge As Nifty Slips into the Red

The markets have slipped from the day's high. Nifty has slipped in red and the midcaps and smallcaps have lost further ground. Breadth has worsened and the advance:decline ratio was at 1:6. Nifty failed to hold above 4600 and Sensex is hovering around 15100. BSE Midcap and smallcap index were down over 3.5%. At 1.01 hrs IST, the Sensex is up 108.14 points or 0.72% at 15102.97, and the Nifty down 14.65 points or 0.32% at 4559.30. About 583 shares have advanced, 2400 shares declined, and 76 shares are unchanged.

Realty index is the worst hit followed by metal both down over 4% each followed by energy indices like oil & gas and power. Select bank, FMCG and IT stocks are witnessing some buying. Among the major losers were Cairn India down 7.5%, Guj NRE Coke down over 10%. Siemens and Tata Steel are down over 3.5%. Other stocks in red are Reliance Energy, Hindalco, Reliance Communication, JP Associates, Ranbaxy.

ICICI Bank, HDFC, Wipro, HCL Tech are the top frontline gainers. Among the other gainers were Hindalco, ABB, Bharti Airtel, NTPC, HUL, ACC, HDFC, Suzlon, ONGC, Wipro, Hero Honda, ITC. Essar Oil, RNRL, ICICI Bank were among the most active stocks on the bourses.

Source: Money Control

Markets Off Morning Highs

The markets are trading in green but have given up some of its morning gains. Pressure is seen in midcap and smallcap stocks. The smallcap index has slipped and is trading in red and midcap index is trading flat. This has impacted the breath which is off the highs. After the Fed cut discount rate by 75 bps markets across globe have rallied. Asia ended in green most with gains of over 1.5%-3%, there were no runaway rallies seen. Europe is off the highs after UK based HBOS reported pound 227 million.

Nifty has breached 4600 mark and is hovering around the 4600 mark and Sensex has slipped below 15200 levels. Other than realty, all BSE indices are trading higher. Power, banking, telecom and capital goods stocks are the star performers. At 2.31 hrs IST, the Sensex is up 281.64 points or 1.90% at 15115.10, and the Nifty up 66.90 points or 1.48% at 4599.90. About 1075 shares have advanced, 1892 shares declined, and 92 shares are unchanged.

Wipro, SAIL, JP Associates are trading firm each up over 6%; followed by Satyam up over 5%. ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, SBI, Bharti Airtel, PNB, L&T, RPL and RNRL were the other gainers. Ranbaxy, Tata Power, Grasim, BPCL, Dr Reddy's are among some of the losers.

The markets had opened on a strong note mirroring phenomenal rally in US markets as FOMC cut the Fed funds and discount rates by 75 bps. Asian markets are also supported this rally. Power, banking, telecom and capital goods stocks were the star performers in morning trade. Market breadth was very positive, NSE advance:decline ratio of 13:1. Midcap and small cap stocks have seen strong bounce back.

Source: Money Control

Auto, IT, Pharma Up, Banks Down

The Sensex, which slipped into the red in late morning trade after remaining positive for a better part of the session, has edged up into the positive territory on resumption of trade after a break for sun outage. At 14,901.62, the Sensex is up with a sharp gain of 92.13 points or 0.62% at present. The Nifty has gained 0.81% or 36.65 points at 4539.75.

Bharti Airtel, ACC, Reliance Energy, BHEL, ONGC, Reliance Communications, Satyam Computer Services and Tata Consultancy Services have rallied smartly and are up by 2% - 4.5% over their previous closing levels now. Ambuja Cements, Cipla, DLF, Infosys Technologies, Maruti Suzuki, NTPC, Ranbaxy Laboratories and Wipro have also gained significant ground in the positive territory.

Hindalco, Tata Steel, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Steel and Jaiprakash Associates are the prominent losers besides bank majors ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and State Bank of India. Banking sector heavyweights ICICI Bank (down 2%), HDFC Bank (down 4.9%) and State Bank of India (down 2.35%) have declined sharply on sustained selling pressure. Yes Bank, the biggest loser in the Bankex at present, is down by over 11% at Rs 131. Union Bank of India and Canara Bank have lost nearly 6% now. Bank of Baroda, Federal Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Karnataka Bank, Allahabad Bank, Axis Bank, Federal Bank and Kotak Bank are down by 3% - 5% from their previous closing levels. Andhra Bank and Bank of India are also down with sharp losses. Punjab National Bank is down with a loss of 0.6% at Rs 454.15. Indian Overseas Bank, the lone gainer in the index, is up by around half a per cent at Rs 130.50. Among other bank stocks, Bank of Maharashtra and Syndicate Bank have posted minor gains. Vijaya Bank, Dena Bank, IDBI, UCO Bank, J&K Bank and Corporation Bank have declined sharply while Central Bank of India and Indian Bank are up with smart gains.

Source: Sify

Stocks Recover Smartly from lows

The Sensex staged a remarkable recovery in the late afternoon trade on account of buying interest at lower levels. The Sensex ended the day's trade with a loss of 51.80 points at 15,923.72. The NSE Nifty, recovered sharply from the day's low of 4,621, and closed with a gain of 28.80 points at 4,800.40.

Bharti Airtel surged 6.85% to Rs 802.80. Bajaj Auto closed higher by Rs 95.80 at Rs 1984.95. DLF gained Rs 22.65 to close at Rs 680.35. Reliance ended at Rs 2273.20, higher by Rs 24.40. Larsen & Toubro was the worst hit during the day's trade. The scrip lost Rs 259.40 and closed at Rs 2728.80. BHEL lost Rs 115.35 to close at Rs 1910.40. Reliance Energy closed lower by Rs 9.55 at Rs 1260.45.

Source: Sify

Asian Markets Plunge

Japan's Nikkei share average hit its lowest in two and a half years in the early afternoon trade on Monday, led by exporters such as Sony Corp after bleak U.S. jobs data added to fears that the world's largest economy is already in recession.

As of 09:04 IST, the benchmark Nikkei had fallen 1.8 percent to 12,549.14, its lowest since Sept. 8, 2005. The broader TOPIX index shed 1.6 percent to 1,227.49.

Hong Kong stocks fell onMonday, as investors sold shares across the board on deepening fears of a U.S. recession after the latest U.S. labour datashowed employers cut jobs by the most in nearly five years. The benchmark Hang Seng Index opened down 0.5 percent at 22,387.25. The China Enterprises Index of Hong Kong-listed mainland companies , or H shares, was down 1.5 percent at
12,147.57.

Source:Reuters

US Markets Decline on Recession Fears

The US markets on Friday, were hammered yet again, pushing the Dow below the key psychological level of 12,000, after fed action to stem the credit crunch failed to offset the damage from February job losses seen as the most blatant sign yet of recession.

The Dow Jones ended 147 points down to close at 11,894, the Nasdaq ended 8 points lower to shut shop at 2,212, the S&P 500 closed down 10.97 points at 1,293.37.

Recession fears return

But even as the US Central bank tried to ease the pressure, economic data painted another gloomy picture.

The labor department reported that the economy lost 63,000 payroll jobs in February, after losing 22,000 jobs in January. This is the second 2-month fall in US payroll numbers since 2003.

Analysts say this fall in jobs data is a clear sign that businesses have become too pessimistic about the economic outlook to add new employees or even replace those that leave.

The poor jobs data is being read as the strongest evidence yet, that the economic expansion has ended.

Source: Moneycontrol

Nifty Up 57 Points at Close - 5 Mar 2008

The stock markets staged an impressive rally today to snap a four-day losing streak, with the benchmark Sensex bouncing by 202 points after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's assurance on price stability this afternoon.

However, the bank and realty shares which had taken a battering on the Bombay Stock Exchange in the past few sessions remained under heavy selling pressure. Market players noted that Sensex was aided to a large extend by the rise IT shares, led by heavyweight Infosys Technologies, following the rupee hitting a five-month low of above 40-mark. They said most of the IT companies earn more than 50 per cent of their revenues from the US. Rupee depreciation would indeed better their bottom line, they added.

Today, the 30-share Sensex on the Bombay Stock Exchange ended the day higher at 16,542.08, a gain of 202.19 points or 1.24 per cent, over its previous close. IT stocks The National Stock Exchange's S&P CNX Nifty also gained 57.15 points, or 1.17 per cent, to close at 4,921.40 from its last close of 4,864.25. The small-cap and mid-cap segments on BSE also witnessed selling pressure and both the indices ended lower by 68.05 points, or 0.95 per cent, and 143.49 points, or 1.60 per cent. Heavyweight stocks such as RIL, ONGC, Tata Steel, HDFC, Infosys Tech, Satyam Computers, Wipro, TCS Ltd, Maruti Suzuki, Hindalco, Grasim and NTPC scored impressive gains.

Source: Sahara Samay

Markets at 14:55 - 4 Mar 2008

Automobile, metal and select information technology stocks have rallied sharply now thanks to strong buying support. With a few frontline stocks from other sectors too bouncing back smartly on renewed buying interest, the market has regained a significant portion of ground it had lost earlier this afternoon.

At 16,541.71, the Sensex is 136.17 points or 0.82% behind its previous closing mark. The Nifty, which very nearly rebounded into the positive zone a few minutes ago, is down with a loss of 0.55% or 27.20 points at 4925.80. Earlier this afternoon, it had slipped to a low of 4812.95.

HDFC (up 5.2% at Rs 2705) is the biggest gainer in the Sensex at present. Hindalco is up by around 5% at Rs 199.50. Maruti Suzuki is up by a little over 3.5% at Rs 905.15. Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Grasim Industries, NTPC, Ambuja Cements, Tata Consultancy Services and BHEL have gained 1% - 2% now. ONGC, Wipro and Ranbaxy Laboratories have also emerged into the positive territory.

Sesa Goa, Colgate Palmolive, ABG Shipyard, Rolta India, Titan Industries, i-flex Solutions, Zee Entertainment, India Cements, Gujarat NRE Coke, Bajaj Hindustan, SAIL and Areva have moved up sharply.

State Bank of India, Reliance Energy, ITC and Reliance Industries have recovered well and are down by just 0.4% - 1% from their previous closing levels now. Infosys Technologies, which had slipped to Rs 1414 earlier this afternoon, has edged up to Rs 1452, cutting down its loss of 1.35%. Bharti Airtel (down 1.9%) has also come off its lower levels.

ACC, which tops the list of Sensex losers at present, is down by 5.45% at Rs 743. ICICI Bank (down 4.4%) has recovered to Rs 978.95 from a low of Rs 929.10 thanks to strong buying at lower levels. DLF is down by a little over 4%. Bajaj Auto, Reliance Communications, HDFC Bank, Larsen & Toubro and Cipla are down by 2% - 3%.

Source: Sify

Sensex Down 901 points

It was a Black Monday again. As weak global markets triggered a massive sell-off, stocks across the board went into a tailspin on the major Indian bourses today. So sharp were the losses recorded by blue chip stocks today that the benchmark BSE index Sensex went tumbling down by a massive 5.12% or 900.84 points, recording its second biggest fall ever (in absolute terms) in history.

As fears of growing credit losses and the implications of a weak US economy on other nations continued to dampen the sentiment, it was a virtual one way trip down south for stocks today. Moderation in growth and concerns over rising inflation were the other factors that hurt the sentiment.

While the Sensex, which touched a low of 16,634.63 in late afternoon trade, ended at 16,677.88, the Nifty settled at 4953, a few points off its intra-day low of 4936.05, netting a huge loss of 270.50 points or 5.18%.

Auto and pharma stocks, thanks to certain sops announced in the Budget that was tabled last Friday, found some support. The Auto and Healthcare indices ended lower by just 0.8% and 0.19% respectively!

Mirroring the sharp fall in prices of bank, power and realty stocks, the Bankex, Power and Realty barometers went down by 6.72%, 6.35% and 6.39% respectively. The Capital Goods, Metal, Oil & Gas and PSU indices lost 5.5% - 6%. The Consumer Durables index dropped down by 6.72% while the IT and Teck indices eased by 4.4% and 4.32% respectively. BSE FMCG drifted down by 2.1%.

Among Sensex components, only Cipla (2.15%), Hindustan Unilever (2%), Ranbaxy Laboratories (1.1%) and Maruti Suzuki (0.85%) managed to buck the weak trend today.

Sun Pharmaceuticals (3.1%), Hero Honda (1.75%), GlaxoSmithKline Pharma (0.8%), Zee Entertainment (0.75%), Nalco (0.75%) and BPCL (0.5%) were the gainers from the Nifty index.

State Bank of India (down 8.8%) was the biggest loser from the Sensex. DLF, HDFC and BHEL lost 8% - 8.5%. Hindalco, NTPC, Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank lost over 6% today.

Reliance Communications, Reliance Energy, Satyam Computer Services, Infosys Technologies, Larsen & Toubro, ITC, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, Grasim Industries, Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services all went down today.

Suzlon Energy, the biggest loser in the Nifty, went down by 10.4%. Punjab National Bank (down 9.65%), SAIL (down 9.3%), Reliance Petroleum (down 7.9%), Siemens (down 7.35%), Tata Power (down 6.7%), Idea Cellular (down 6.05%), Sterlite Industries (down 6.05%), Unitech (down 5.55%), GAIL India (down 4.65%), Tata Communications (down 3.95%) and ABB (down 3.55%) also declined sharply. Cairn India, Dr Reddy's Laboratories and HCL Technologies eased by 2.955, 2.05% and 1.4% respectively.

Mirroring the sell-off in midcap and smallcap segments, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices fell by over 4% today. The market breadth remained very weak right through the session.

When trade ended, out of a total of 2766 stocks that were seen in action on BSE today, as many as 2330 stocks were down in the red. 396 stocks managed to post gains and 40 stocks ended at their previous closing levels.

The volume of business on the bourses came down a bit today. The National Stock Exchange recorded a turnover of Rs 12,754.20 crore, which was lower by around Rs 3,262 crore than what the exchange had recorded on Friday last week.

Budget to stimulate investment, growth

Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the Union Budget for 2008-09 would stimulate investment and consequently growth, while pointing out that he had done the best through the budgetary exercise by providing credit facilities to the farm sector.

"Credit is only one element of the story in the farm sector. I provided more credit. Budget can only address credit side... the farm sector has not done too bad this year," he said in his post-Budget comments.

The Finance Minister had announced debt waiver and relief worth Rs 60,000 crore to small and marginal farmers in the Budget, the last full financial statement before the general elections next year.

India Inc Gives Thumbs Up to Budget

"This Budget will stimulate investment and growth and that growth will create wealth... the economy is growing by 8 per cent, people have become more tax compliant and they are willing to pay taxes," he said on the buoyancy in government's revenues.

The Indian industry and investment bankers on Friday gave a thumbs up to the Union Budget, saying Finance Minister P Chidambaram has done a "fantastic" job.

"Budget is on the expected lines and the industry has not been penalised although we are disappointed that the corporate tax has not been changed," apex industry body CII's President Sunil Mittal said.

"Corporate taxes are at fair levels. An increase of five per cent on short-term capital gains will make people hold for medium term," Kotak Mahindra Bank managing director Uday Kotak said.

Industrialist Sajjan Jindal, vice-chairman and MD of JSW Steel said: "This is a mixed budget and the FM has not touched upon the corporate tax, which we were anticipating.

Although there is a little disappointment on not meeting the concerns on iron ore conservation and the taxes imposed on chrome ore export are also a long-pending demand of ours, which is a welcome step, he added.