Markets surge on global cues

The benchmark indices started the new derivatives series in style, building on the gains of the previous session, with the Sensex spurting by 221 points at 18,266 and the Nifty added 63 points to close at 5476. The buoyant mood was in tandem with the sentiment across the global bourses.In the broader markets, the midcap index had a good run today trading up by 1.5% outperforming the Sensex which added 1.2% while the smallcap index gained 0.9%

Earlier the day, the markets had started off strong with the positive Asian cues and continued to trade higher through the day. There was renewed buying interest seen in realty and banking space from the start of the day. The key benchmark indices extended gains to hit fresh one-week highs in mid-afternoon trade, buoyed by firm global stocks helping the Sensex to touch an intra-day high of 18,298, up 193 points from the day's opening.

In the Asian market, most of the indices closed in the green with only Nikkei and Shanghai Composite being the exceptions. The top gainer among the indices was Hang Seng up nearly 1% followed by KLSE Composite and Jakarta Composite which added 0.5%. European markets too edged higher with traders taking their cues from US and Asian markets on the back of rising commodity prices. The key benchmark indices in UK, Germany and France were up by between 0.4-1%

ADAG stocks are in the limelight in today's session. Reliance Power has jumped nearly 5% after its consolidated net profit rose 11% to Rs 760 crore on a 124% rise in total income to Rs 1892 crore in the year ended March 2011 over the previous year. The positive sentiment rubbed onto the ADAG pack. Reliance Communications raced ahead by 5.6% at Rs 85 and Reliance Infrastructure strengthened by 3.8% at Rs 557.

In the sectoral indices, realty and bankex lead the gains throughout the day gaining between 2-3%. Metal stocks too rose on firm global commodity prices which added nearly 2%. Oil & Gas index gained on reports a panel of ministers led by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will meet on 9 June 2011 and discuss increase diesel, kerosene and cooking gas prices.Of the fifteen scrips listed under the realty index, fourteen scrips advanced while only one scrip declined today. The movers here were Anant Raj Industries which surged 11% followed by Orbit Corporation, Indiabulls Real Estate, DLF and Unitech which added 4% each.

The top gainers among the Sensex stocks were Hindalco (Rs 197) and Reliance Communication (Rs 85) up 5% each followed by ICICI Bank (Rs 1069), DLF (Rs 225), Reliance Infrastructure (Rs 557), Jaiprakash Associates (Rs 82) and ONGC (Rs 283) which added between 3-4%.

Tata Motors (Rs 1088) down 6% was the top loser for the day after reporting a 18% year-on-year growth in its consolidated net profit at Rs 2,638 crore for the quarter ended March 2011 over the previous year. The automobile maker has reported lowest net profit growth in the last four quarters. Hindustan Unilever, NTPC and Hero Honda which lost 1% each were the other noteable losers.

The market breadth was positive. Of the total 2930 stocks traded on the BSE, 1713 stocks advanced while 1078 declined on the BSE.