Sensex reclaims 26,000, Nifty hits 7,900; IT shares firm up

After a lower opening, markets have gained momentum led by buying in the technology stocks as rekindled hopes of an interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve in the month of December is likely to result in strengthening of dollar.

From the IT space, Infosys, TCS, Wipro, Mindtree, Intellect Design Arena and Mastek have gained between 2-12%.

At 11:24 AM, the Sensex is up 187 points at 26,030 and the Nifty has gained 54 points to trade at 7,897.

Other prominent gainers include GAIL, M&M, Dr Reddy’s Lab, Hero Motocorp up 2-8%.

Gas distribution companies such as GAIL (India), Gujarat Gas Company, Indraprastha Gas (IGL) and Petronet LNG have rallied by up to 18% on the bourses on back of heavy volumes.

In past one-week, GAIL (India) has rallied 23% to Rs 346 from Rs 282 on November 13, after Mahanagar Gas Ltd (MGL) has filed draft papers with the capital markets regulator Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to raise funds through a public offer. GAIL and British Gas Asia each hold 49.75% in MGL.

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(updated at 11:00 AM)

After a spectacular rally on Thursday, markets commenced the last session of the week on a flatter note following weakness in the Asian markets. The possibility of a rate hike in December by the US Federal Reserve will keep the market players on their toes.

At 10 AM, Sensex was at 25,806, down by 36 points while Nifty was 7,829, down by 14 points.

The broader markets are distinctly outperforming their larger peers. BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices have both climbed up by 0.4% each. The health of the market also is strong with 780 advances against 415 declines on the BSE.

7th Pay Commission report submitted to the Finance Ministry recommends 23.55% pay hike to all the central government employees.  This can help improve the affordability of households.

According to a morning report by Angel Broking, “Since last few sessions, our market is clearly directionless. However, in line with our view the 7700 mark is acting as a sheet anchor for the bulls. Despite a sharp sell off on Wednesday, our market managed to trim all losses on Thursday and eventually closed on a strong note.”

To give a better picture, “Going forward, if Nifty sustains above 7860 then we may witness an extension towards 7900 - 7930 levels. On the flipside, an intraday support is seen around 7760 level.”

Globally, Asian markets are trading mixed with Japan’s Nikkei down marginally as Bank of Japan maintained its status on monetary policy unchanged. Shanghai Composite is marginally up.

Overnight, the Wall Street closed on a flatter note.

TRENDING STOCKS

 Across the board, for the large part, stocks are trading flat with the exception of GAIL(India). The stock has extended its gains as the company stands to benefit from the hydrocarbon policy announced earlier this week, which can lead to the boost in production of gas.

As expected, post the announcement of 7th Pay Commission that can benefit nearly 50 lakh central government employees along with some 54 lakh pensioners, the demand for consumer related goods can get a boost.

The BSE Consumer durables index has rallied around 0.47%. Videocon Industries, Bajaj Electricals, Symphony, Whirlpool are all up by 1-1.5% each.

In the automobile space, Hero Motocorp, Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Auto, M&M are all up  between 0.5-2%

Punj Lloyd has bagged two rural electrification contracts worth Rs 483 crore from NTPC for Puri and Koraput districts of Odisha. NTPC has reacted positively as it advanced 0.9% while Punj Llyod gained 0.8%

Dr Reddy's has filed a lawsuit in a US court against Anglo-Swedish drug giant AstraZeneca alleging material breach of a settlement agreement that had released the company from any liability in connection with generic versions of Nexium, the blockbuster drug used to treat heartburns and gastric ulcers. The stock has recovered from yesterday’s losses and has gained 1.3%

Other important stocks that lost steam today are Sun Pharma, Bharti Airtel, HDFC, Axis Bank and ITC all dropping between 0.7-1.7%