IT, banks lead markets higher
Volatility ruled the roost in trades today. The Sensex after touching a low of 17,179, recovered to a high of 17,458. However, it pared some gains and finally ended at 17,362 - up 165 points. Nifty ended up 50 points at 5,278.
Asian markets ended mostly in the negative zone. China's shrinking factory activity data dampened sentiments. Shanghai Composite slipped 1 per cent at 2,349. Nikkei was down 1 per cent at 10,011. Hang Seng was down 1 per cent at 20,669.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 246.56 crore on Thursday. FII have invested Rs 7,207.8 crore from March 9 to March 20, 2012.
Realty shares led the gains this afternoon. BSE realty index jumped 1.6 per cent to 1,791. Bankex was up 1.3 per cent at 11,860.
HDFC Bank and Infosys were the top contributors to the Sensex's upmove this afternoon. From the banking space, HDFC Bank added 2.2 per cent at Rs 514, ICICI Bank moved up 1.3 per cent at Rs 911. Bharti Airtel rebounded after the morning's fall and ended up 3.7 per cent at Rs 336.
The government will decide on the price of gas that Reliance Industries (RIL) and Essar Oil plan to produce from coal seams by April-end, an Oil Ministry official said today. Moreover, the government has approved RIL's $1.5 billion plan to produce over 10 million standard cubic meters of gas per day from four satellite fields in the KG-D6 block. Reliance advanced 1 per cent at Rs 744.
Among other gainers were Hero MotoCorp, Sun Pharma and GAIL.
IT shares jumped on US cues as Accenture's second quarter results and guidance cheered market sentiments. BSE IT index went up 1.4 per cent at 6,095.
ING Belgium has selected Infosys' Finacle universal banking solution for core banking transformation. Shares of Infosys jumped up 1.4 per cent at Rs 2,868. TCS was up 1.4 per cent while Wipro moved up marginally to Rs 424.
Meanwhile, the rupee dropped on speculation a widening Budget deficit will weigh on its credit rating, damping demand for the nation’s assets.
Metal shares weakened on global cues as metal prices declined in the London Metal Exchange. Jindal Steel shed 2 per cent at Rs 536, followed by Hindalco and Sterlite and Tata Steel.
Maruti Suzuki shed 1.7 per cent at Rs 1,309 on reports that the newly formed workers' union at the Manesar plant demanding higher wages. Other losers include Coal India and ONGC.
Aviation stocks moved up on report that the civil aviation ministry has allowed increasing utilisation of foreign bilateral rights for Indian carriers to 40 per cent, roughly equal to the utilisation by foreign carriers, from the summer schedule, starting April. Jet Airways surged 2 per cent while SpiceJet soared over 7 per cent.
According to Oil & Natural Gas Corp's Chairman, the company's profit before tax will take a hit of Rs 5,000 crore in 2012-13 due to budget proposals to raise duties on oil production, and an increase in service and other taxes. Shares of ONGC slipped 1.2 per cent at Rs 267.
BSE market breadth was neutral. Out of 3,022 shares traded, 1,474 shares advanced while 1,428 shares declined.