Nifty ends above 8,200 amid firm global cues

ICICI Bank, Infosys, RIL and TCS lead the rally

Markets extended gains for the second straight session, amid firm global cues, led by IT exporters after encouraging first quarter earnings and revenue growth guidance from global IT major Accenture.

Broad based buying pulled the Nifty above its 50-day moving average on the back of Fed optimism. Even though the FIIs have been sellers during the last few sessions, DIIs swiftly turned buyers picking up the opportunity to buy cheap.

Benchmark indices after a strong start retained most of its early gains through the day with ICICI Bank, Infosys, RIL and TCS leading the rally. The quartet contributed to 175 point gain seen on the Sensex.

On Friday, the 30-share Sensex gained 245 points or 0.9% at 27,372 and the Nifty gained 66 points or 0.8% to close at 8,225.

However, the gains in broader markets were not in line with the benchmark index. The midcap index added 0.4% and the smallcap index edged higher by 0.6%, underperforming the BSE benchmark index which was up nearly a percent. Profit taking was visible in the last trading hour which dragged the mid and smallcap indices off its highs.

Sectors & Stocks

On the sectoral front, the top losers were FMCG and Realty indices down nearly a percent each. Auto and Consumer Durables indices were flat with a negative bias.

Meanwhile, Capital Goods, IT, Metal, Oil & Gas and Power indices gained 1-2%.

IT stocks were among the top gainers for the day on firm first quarter results by Accenture. Infosys, TCS and Wipro have gained upto 2.5%.

Auto stocks which had gained on GST hopes slipped in the last leg of trade. Hero MotoCorp, Maruti and Baja Auto were down 0.1-1.6% and Tata Motors closed flat with a positive bias.

Metal stocks were firm. Sesa Sterlite, Hindalco gained upto 3% each while Tata Steel added 0.8%.

Oil and gas shares were mixed. Reliance gained 2.3% and ONGC was up by 1.2% while GAIL was marginally in green. Earlier, the Supreme Court had given green signal to GAIL to take part in the tendering process for laying Ennore-Tuticorin pipeline.

Bank shares have come off early morning highs and were trading mixed. ICICI Bank gained close to 3% and was the top gainer among Sensex-30. According to media reports, the bank is in the process of sshrinking its international balance sheet by selling its subsidiary in Russia, repatriating capital from its UK (United Kingdom) and Canada arms. SBI was down nearly a percent.

Among pharma shares, Sun Pharma and Cipla were under pressure while Dr Reddys Lab gained 1.3%. The company has closed the acquisition of Habitrol Brand, an over-the-counter nicotine patch, from Novartis.

Some of the other names in red were FMCG heavyweights ITC and HUL down upto 1.5%.

Bharti Airtel down 1.5% was the other major loser.

Global Markets

Asian shares enjoyed their best day in 15 months on Friday, after Wall Street boasted its biggest two-day advance since late 2011 amid relief the Federal Reserve was in no rush to withdraw stimulus from the U.S. economy.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan put on 1.5%, the steepest daily rise since September last year. Shares in Shanghai hit their highest in four years before running into profit taking. Japan's Nikkei climbed 2%.

Meanwhile, in Europe markets started higher with CAC, DAX and FTSE gaining 0.3-0.6%.