Markets gather pace; Sensex up 200 points

Benchmark indices climb for the second day amid a firm rally in the Asian equities as crude oil prices advanced on hopes that the big oil producers will cap the output in order to tackle the supply glut.

Across the board gains were witnessed on massive buying interest by investors with technology and FMCG stocks contributing the most to the rally.

At 2:35 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 217 points at 23,599 and the Nifty50 was up 63 points at 7,172.
 

Meanwhile, Global ratings agency Moody's Investors Service rehashed faith in the Indian economy. According to Moody's Investors Service, country’s economy will grow at 7.5% in 2016 and 2017 as it is relatively less exposed to external headwinds, like China slowdown, and will benefit from lower commodity prices.

However, flat trend in the European equities on mixed earnings reports have capped the upside on the indices.

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(updated at 12:50 pm)

Markets have come off day’s high, however, continue to trade firm mirroring strength in the global peers amid buying in healthcare, IT, and capital goods shares.

At 12:50 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 170 points at 23,557 and the Nifty50 was up 49 points at 7,157.

The Asian shares gained strength across the board as crude oil prices escalated as hopes that the big oil producers will cap the output in order to tackle the supply glut.

Crude oil remained the main market driver. U.S. crude was up 2.1% at $31.34 a barrel following a 7% jump on Wednesday after Iran voiced support for a Russia-Saudi-led move to freeze production to deal with the market glut that had pushed prices to 12-year lows.

Minutes of the January Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting released on Wednesday showed that policymakers are concerned about the global financial conditions hitting the U.S. economy and considered changing their planned path of interest rate hikes in 2016.

Back home, Moody’s rehashed faith in the Indian economy. According to Moody's Investors Service, country’s economy will grow at 7.5% in 2016 and 2017 as it is relatively less exposed to external headwinds, like China slowdown, and will benefit from lower commodity prices.

On the currency front, the Indian rupee slipped 4 paise to trade at 68.50 against the US dollar after opening higher in today’s trade.

KEY STOCKS

Shares of oil exploration & production companies such as Cairn India, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India – were trading higher by up to 4% after a sharp surge in global crude oil prices provided some respite to these companies.

The Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have slashed prices of petrol by 32 paise per liter and raised diesel rates by 28 paise per liter in order to align the domestic rates of the automobile fuels with global benchmarks. The pack is trading mixed. BPCL and IOC have gained over 1% each while HPCl has slipped 2%.

Mahindra & Mahindra is trading flat after rising in the morning trade. The auto company announced that its recently launched sports utility vehicle KUV 100 has crossed 21,000 bookings in just a month post launch.

Drug major Cipla has announced the completion of its $ 550 million acquisition of US generic drug makers InvaGen and Exelan. The stock has advanced 1.1%.

Dr Reddy’s Laboratories has rallied nearly 5%, extending its previous day’s gain, after the company said it will buyback around 4.49m shares representing 2.6% of the existing paid up capital of the company, at a price not more than Rs 3,500 per share under the open market route.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) plans to add around 50,000 km of road network in five to six years involving an investment of Rs 17 lakh crore. Sensing a huge opportunity in this sector, engineering and construction giant L&T has leaped 3%.

Glenmark Pharma has gained 1% after the company announced the receipt of tentative approval from USFDA for its generic version of azelaic acid topical gel that is used for treating skin inflammation.

As part of its balance sheet clean-up exercise, state-owned Punjab National Bank plans to sell up to Rs 3,000-crore bad loans to asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) in the fourth quarter. The stock is 0.2% up.

On the flip side, RIL, HDFC, SBI, Axis Bank, Maruti Suzuki, all down between 0.5% and 2.5%.