Markets finish higher on first day of June F&O series

Benchmark indices finished higher on the first day of the June series led by a stellar rally in the rate sensitive stocks on hopes of rate cut at RBI’s policy meet due on June 2. Smart recovery in the rupee further boosted the sentiments.

Provisionally, the Sensex closed 321 points higher at 27,828 levels and the Nifty ended 113 points higher at 8,432 mark.

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(updated at 3.30 PM)

Benchmark indices are trading higher on the first day of the June series led by a stellar rally in the rate sensitive stocks on hopes of rate cut at RBI’s policy meet due on June 2. Smart recovery in the rupee has further boosted the sentiments.

The government will release the national income estimates for 2014-15 later during the day depicting the health of the economy.

At 2.30, the 30-share Sensex has gained 218 points at 27,725 levels while the 50-share Nifty is trading at 8,392 levels, up by 73 points.

The broader markets are also trading strong in tandem with the larger peerswith BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices up between 1-1.5%.

The market breadth is strong with 1,350 advances against 1,192 declines on the BSE.

The rupee edged higher by 5 paise to 63.75 against the dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange due to increased selling of the US currency by exporters and banks.

KEY STOCKS

All sectoral indices barring BSE Consumer Durables and Power indices are trading in the positive territory with BSE Healthcare, Auto, Bankex, Oil & Gas indices leading the rally up between 1-1.6%.

On the hopes of a rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), rate sensitive stocks have gained across the bourses. According to the results of a Reuters poll, the Reserve Bank of India is likely to cut its benchmark interest rates by 25 basis points to 7.25% when it meets early next week and make a similar move before December.

M&M, Maruti Suzuki, HDFC twins, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, SBI, Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors are trading higher up to 4%. 

Bharti Airtel has soared 5%. Vodafone Group PLC said on Thursday it sold its stake in telecom infrastructure firm Bharti Infotel to its holding company Bharti Enterprises for $200 million. The stake represents about a 4.2% interest in the Indian mobile carrier Bharti Airtel, which is also a subsidiary of Bharti Enterprises.

From the healthcare space, Cipla and Sun Pharma have surged 1% and 2% ahead of their quarterly results due later in the day.

State-owned power utility NTPC today reported a 5 per cent drop in its March quarter net profit to Rs 2,944.03 crore. The stock is trading with marginal gains.

From the capital goods sector, L&T has gained 1% ahead of its result that is due tomorrow while BHEL has shed 1.5% after reporting a 52% drop in the net profits.

State-run petroleum explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) on Thursday reported a 19.5 per cent decline in standalone net profit for the quarter ended March 2015 on higher operating costs, lower prices and write-offs of dry wells that did not result in any discovery.

Aluminium maker Hindalco Industries reported 36 per cent fall in standalone net profit to Rs 160 crore for the quarter ended March 31, mainly on account of Rs 146 crore liability towards Renewable Power Obligations (RPO). The stock has shed 1.5%.