Sensex ends 517 points higher amid firm global cues

Benchmark indices ended higher, gaining in-line with their Asian peers, after eight straight days of weak closing led primarrily by index heavyweights like ITC and HDFC and bank stocks.

Provisionally, the 30-share Sensex ended up 517 points at 27,976 and the 50-share Nifty closed up 160 points at 8,501.

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Benchmark indices are set to close higher after seven straight days of losses and a flat closing on Friday, amid a broad based rally led primarily by the gains in index heavyweights and capital goods stocks.

 
At 2:15PM, the 30-share Sensex was up 417 points at 27,876 and the 50-share Nifty was up 120 points at 8,461.  

 
In the broader market, both the BSE Midcap index, up 1.6% and Smallcap index, up 2.8% have performed better than the front-liners. Market breadth in BSE is positive with 1,906 advances against 716 declines.

Analysts say that the upmove seen on Monday is likely to extend into April. However, one needs to be selective and have a stock specific approach ahead of the quarterly results season.

G.Chokkalingam, founder and managing director, Equinomics Research & Advisory, says: "The markets have seen a healthy correction after the steep rise seen since the last year. Since the past few weeks, we have seen a sell-off on account of not only global factors, but also some profit booking by the investors ahead of the futures & options (F&O) expiry for the March series. Investors also sold off to take advantage of the tax benefits ahead of the financial year closing."

"With these two events – the F&O expiry and the tax benefits owing to financial year closure behind us, I feel some rise seen on Monday has been has been on account of these investors returning to the market. I expect the markets to resume their up move in April," he adds.
 
Buzzing Stocks
 
All the 12 sectoral indices of BSE are trading in green. BSE FMCG and Capital Goods indices up over 2% each are the top gainers followed by BSE Metal index up around 1.5% and BSE Bankex up 1.4%.
 
Select index heavyweight stocks are leading the gains in today’s session. FMCG major, ITC has gained over 3% and HDFC is up 2.4%. According to media reports, HDFC is planning to raise around Rs 2,400 crore via public-offering of 10% of its stake.  

 
Bank shares are trading firm. ICICI Bank has gained over 1%, HDFC Bank is up nearly 2%, Axis Bank has gained over 2% and SBI is up 1.3%.
 
Capital Goods stocks are surging with L&T gaining around 2.4% and BHEL gaining over 2%.  The newly formed Telangana state utility, Telangana State Power Generation Corporation Limited (TSGENCO) has awarded BHEL with an EPC (Engineering, Procurement & Construction) order for setting up a 4x270 MW thermal power plant in the state.
 
ONGC has gained 3.5%. According to media reports, the state-owned company is planning massively expand exploration of natural gas and oil along with optimising the production from existing wells.

 
Bharti Airtel has gained over 3%. Bharti Airtel has bought 61.2Mhz, 15.4Mhz and 35Mhz of spectrum across the 900, 1800 and 2100mhz bands respectively with a total payout of Rs 30.2bn. Analysts at Religare Institutional Research believe that high spectrum renewal charges would put a lot of strain on the balance sheet of telecom companies which they only be able to offset by a series of hikes in tariff charges.
 
NTPC has gained over 1%. NTPC has issued bonus debentures worth over Rs 10,000 crore to its existing shareholders, including Rs 7,726 crore to the central government, for funding its expansion plans, media reports suggested.

 
Coal India has gained over 3%. CIL has been appointed the custodian of the coal field that was won by Jindal Power but the allocation was cancelled later by Union Government.
 
According to media reports, five global and three local investment bankers have agreed to underwrite more than half the Tata Motors Rs 7,500-crore rights offer. Tata Motors will use the equity infusion of Rs 7,500 crore  from the rights issue to reduce debts and for capital expenditure. The stock is trading flat.
 
Among other major gainers, IT shares are trading higher. Infosys, TCS and Wipro have gained 0.9%-1.7% each. On the other hand,  Tata Power and Hindalco lost 1.1% and 1.5%, respectively.

 
Global Markets
 
Among Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei share average rose in choppy trade on Monday as investors bought back stocks on dips after the index tumbled last week, but energy shares underperformed as oil prices extended their losses. Nikkei closed 0.6% higher.
 
European markets have opened higher. FTSE 100 has gained 0.7%, CAC 40 has gained over 1% and DAX is up 1.5%.  Uncertainty over whether Greece and its international creditors will be able to strike a deal that will help Athens secure funding before it runs out of money by April 20 is likely to keep gains limited for European markets.