Nifty reclaims 8,600, Sensex up over 300 points

Don't want to miss the best from Business Standard?

Markets continued to trade firm in late morning trades and the Nifty reclaimed 8,600 helped by a rebound in financials

At 11.30 AM, the 30-share Sensex was up 361 points at 28,588 and the 50-share Nifty gained 107 points at 8,634.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors continued to remain sellers in Indian equities with net sale of Rs 660.30 crore on Monday, as per provisional data.

Further, Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party is seen heading for a victory in the Delhi assembly elections counting for which is taking place simultaneously at 14 Centres across the city.

The government on Monday estimated India’s economic growth this financial year at 7.4%, against 6.9% in 2013-14, as the country changed its definition of gross domestic product (GDP) and the base year for calculating it. The estimated growth for 2014-15 is the same as China’s growth for 2014. Earlier, both the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank had said India’s growth would exceed China’s by 2016-17. Capital Goods and Power shares will be in focus.

Except for IT all other sectoral indices on the BSE were in the green with Bankex emerging as the top gainer up 2.2% followed by Metal, Auto and Capital Goods among others.

In the financial sector, ICICI Bank was the top Sensex gainer up 4.4%. The private banking major has initiated the process of repatriating capital from its Canadian arm for the second time in as many years. Further, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, SBI and HDFC were up 1.5-3% each.

Private sector lender Axis Bank today said it will seek shareholders' approval for raising up to Rs 15,000 crore by issuing long-term bonds or non-convertible debentures to select investors in the domestic market. The stock is up 2%

Tata Motors also rebounded after its recent correction and was up 3%.

Hindalco, whose European subsidiary Novalis reported a rise in profits, was also up 4%. Tata Steel,  Sesa Sterlite and Coal India have gained between 0.5-3.6%.

The Government has announced infusing Rs 6,900 crore in nine public sector banks. The key point is that this additional capital has been given on the basis of new criteria that comprise of efficiency parameters. SBI is up 3%.

NTPC BHEL Power Projects Private Limited (NBPPL) today signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with APGenco for supply of spare parts for coal and ash handling plants and other equipment required by the Andhra Pradesh power utility’s thermal power plants. NTPC is up 0.7% and BHEL has climbed over 2%.

On the flip side, power stocks are reeling under pressure. Tata Power is trading with marginal gains. On Monday, the stock had dropped on fears that AAP party would conduct inspection of books if it comes to power in Delhi.

L&T rebounded after sharp fall on Monday post its dismal third quarter earnings.

Shares of the technology pack are reeling under pressure in today’s trade on account of profit booking. Wipro and TCS are down between 0.3-0.5%.

The country’s largest real estate firm, DLF dipped by over 3% at Rs 152 on the BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange) after posting a 9% decline in its consolidated net profit to Rs 132 crore for the quarter ended December, owing to lower sales and higher finance cost.

In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap index were up 1.2% each.

Market breadth was strong with 1,549 gainers and 710 losers on the BSE.