Markets end higher on rate-cut optimism

BSE-real-estate, bankex, auto lead gains on BSE

Indian shares ended higher this Friday as investor's eyed for an interest rate cut by Reserve Bank of India in its mid-quarter policy review on January 29 to boost growth in Asia's third-biggest economy.

The Bombay Stock Exchange's 30-share index Sensex rose 192.21points and ended at  20,115.99 provisionally while the National Stock Exchange's 50-share Nifty gained 55.30 points at 6,074.65 on a provisional basis.
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Updated at 2:20PM

Indian shares surged in afternoon trades this Friday led by buying in rate-sensitive sectors such as banks, real-estate, auto ahead of key central bank monetary policy review next week.

The Reserve Bank of India will unveil its mid-quarter polciy review on January 29 amid hopes the central bank may cut interest rates to boost growth into the Asia's third-biggest economy.

At 2:20PM, the Bombay Stock Exchange's 30-share index Sensex rose 176 points and traded at  20,101.04 while the National Stock Exchange's 50-share Nifty gained 52 points at 6,071.85.

In the results calendar, Reliance Power and Tata Coffee will declare their third quarter performances later today.

Globally, Asian shares ended on concern over corporate profitability while Japanese shares rose on optimism about the earnings prospects for Japanese exporters with the yen weakening.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.08% to 23,580, Taiwan's Weighted index declined 0.3% to 7,672,  Singapore's Straits Times inched up 0.44% to 3,262  while China's Shanghai Composite dropped 0.5% to 2,291 and Japan's Nikkei rose 2.88% to 10,926.

European markets traded mixed, France's CAC rose 0.08% to 3,755, Germany's DAX gained 0.06% to 7,753 while UK's FTSE was down 0.18% to 6,253.


Back home, all sectoral indices gained with consumer durables, capital goods, autos, banks, real-estate, health care indexes  topping on BSE.

Among key Sensex stocks, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra gaining nearly 3%, Sun Pharma and Dr Reddy's rose 2% and 1% respectively while Cipla is up 1.7%, SBI and ICICI Bank rose 2% and 1%, Larsen & Toubro gained 1.4% on BSE.

Among losers, Tata Power fell 0.8%, HDFC fell 1%, and Hero MotoCorp dropped 0.2%, Reliance Industries is down 0.1% on BSE.

The other notable movers include Housing Development and Infrastructure (HDIL) has surged 14% to Rs 84.90, bouncing back almost 25% from intra-day low on back of heavy volumes.

Larsen & Toubro rose over 1% today. CLSA has upgraded the stock to "outperform" from "underperform", citing favourable policies from the government and expected interest cuts would be reflected in the company's earnings by the second half of fiscal 2013/14.

Suzlon Energy has surged almost 5% to Rs 18.90 after the wind energy major said that the empowered group of corporate debt restructuring (CDR) cell have approved its proposal for the restructuring of its domestic debt.

Sesa Goa fell 1.07% to Rs 176.40 after consolidated net profit fell 28.2% to Rs 496.73 crore on 91% slide in total income to Rs 237 crore in Q3 December 2012 over Q3 December 2011.

The broader markets rose  with mid-caps  and small-caps  up by0.5-0.7% on BSE.

The market breadth was positive. Out of 2,816 stocks traded, 1,474 stocks advanced compared to 1,219 declines on BSE.