Markets firm in noon trades

The capital goods and banking stocks are propelling the indices

The markets are going strong on the last day of April derivatives series, hitting fresh all-time highs, due to strength in capital goods and banking stocks. The Sensex is quoting at 22,847, higher by 89 points and the Nifty is at 6,840, up 24 points. The broader markets are also acting in tandem; the midcap index is at 7404, up 18 points and the smallcap index is at 7659, up 30 points. Among the sectoral indices, the S&P BSE Capital Goods Index was up 1.5% and the Bankex has gained 0.94%.

 

The Indian markets had a lethargic closing on Tuesday after hitting record intra-day highs and the current session was expected to be volatile on account of F&O expiry. However, the markets have been remarkably steady thus far, ignoring apprehensions surrounding derivatives expiry and negative vibes from their global counterparts. While Asian markets such as Straits Times, Hang Seng, Taiwan and Shanghai are in the red, and the European bourses are essentially directionless, the Sensex has been hovering in a range of around 100 points.

 

On the economic front, the rupee has weakened past 61/dollar to 1-month low, trading at 61.06/07 versus its previous close of 60.76/77 as the dollar demand from oil companies and weakness in other regional currencies helped the greenback.

 

The capital goods are continuing their uptrend of the previous session. L&T has strengthened by 2.34% at Rs 1377 and BHEL has moved higher by 1.5% at Rs 189. The banking names are also seeing buying interest, with Axis Bank gaining more than a per cent, while HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank adding more than half a per cent each.

 

YES Bank is trading at Rs 442, higher by Rs 8 or 14.9%, after reporting an 18.7% jump in Q4 net. The bank reported a Q4 net profit of Rs 430 crore compared to Rs 362.2 crore in the same period last year, a growth of 18.7%.

 

The stocks of railway stocks have raced ahead for the third day in a row as investors increased exposure in anticipation of a stable government at the centre post the elections in May. Titagarh Wagons, Kalindee Rail Nirman, Kernex Microsystems, Hind Rectifiers and Texmaco Rail and Engineering have added between 5% and 10% each. 

 

So far this week, Titagarh Wagons is up close to 48%. Kalindee Rail Nirman is up more than 27%. Kernex Microsystems has moved up 23%, Hind Rectifiers is up about 15% and Texmaco Rail and Engineering is up over 10%. BEML has seen the lower gain at 3.4%.

 

On the other hand, the laggards on the BSE are NTPC (slipped 0.9% at Rs 122) and Tata Motors (shed 0.7% at Rs 425). Select IT stocks such as TCS and Wipro have also shed around half a percent each.

 

The market breadth is positive. Out of 2793 stocks traded on the BSE thus far, there are 1413 advancing stocks as against 1231 declines.