Markets extend gains, Nifty hits 8,950; RIL rallies 8%

Axis Bank, Grasim, Ultratech Cements and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the top gainers on Nifty

Benchmark indices extended gains with Nifty50 reclaiming 8,950 level amid lack of domestic cues as it readies for expiry of futures and options for the February series. 
 
Sentiment was slightly affected by San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams’ warning that the global drop in interest rates since the financial crisis is likely to persist and will make it harder for central banks to keep world economies healthy.
 
At 12:07 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 28,906, up 144 points, while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 8,947, up 39 points.
 

In the broader market, BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap gained 0.1% and 0.2% respectively.

"Nifty is well placed above the 8,800 levels indicates strength and has a potential to test 8,940/8,970 levels in coming trading sessions. Intraday support is placed at 8,820/8,800 levels, as long as it sustain above the same the Bull rally is likely to continue its up trend," said Nirmal Bang in a note
 
On Tuesday, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 1435.76 crore, while Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1535.44 crore, provisional data available with BSE showed.

Sectors and Stocks

Reliance Industries gained over 8%, hitting its 52-week high of Rs 1,178.90 as investors cheer Reliance Jio's new tariff plan. The stock was the biggest gainer on BSE Sensex and was trading at its highest level since June 2009.

RIL, Axis Bank, Tata Motors and Bharti Airtel were the top gainers on BSE Sensex while TCS, Infosys, Tata Steel and Sun Pharma were the biggest laggards.

Coal India was up 2% at Rs 327 on the BSE after the company announced that the board will meet on March 06, 2017, to consider payment of interim dividend, if any, for the year 2016-17.

Shares of Bharat Electronics fell as much as 3.2% to Rs 1,510 during the early morning trade as government will begin to sell its 5% stake in the company today.
 
F&O rollovers in Feb series 
 

The Market wide February expiry rollover stood at 38.66% on Tuesday as compared to 38.66% on same day of previous expiry, which is lower than with its three months average of 39.77% and six months average of 39.82%.
 
Nifty's rollovers to March series came in at 42.8% on Tuesday compared to 32.15% on same day of previous expiry while those of were at 32.86% on Tuesday compared to 31.63% on same day of previous expiry.
 
The Nifty Feb rollover figures were higher than its three months average of 37.48% and its six months average of 42.47%.
 
Global Markets

 
Asian stocks edged up on Wednesday, joining a record-setting night for world markets as investors cheered upbeat factory activity in Europe and solid earnings on Wall Street.
 
The dollar was steady after hawkish comments from top Federal Reserve officials bolstered expectations the world's no. 1 economy was strong enough to keep policymakers on course to further raise rates this year.
 
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan nudged up 0.1%, taking its cues from the world stock index rising to an all-time peak of 446.21 overnight. Japan's Nikkei and South Korea's Kospi added 0.15% each.
 

The Dow rose 0.6% on Tuesday to notch a record closing high for the eighth straight session, lifted by strong earnings reports from Wal-Mart and Home Depot.
 
That followed a strong showing in European equities, which were boosted by upbeat German and French factory activity data, with Germany's DAX rising to its highest in nearly two years.
 
(With inputs from Reuters)