Nifty records longest rally in 10 months on Jan F&O expiry

The Sensex ended 123 points higher at 29,682, while the Nifty moved up to 8,952 levels

Benchmark share indices ended at record closing highs with the broader Nifty gaining for the 10th straight session, the longest rally since April 2014, following the expiry of January 2015 derivative contracts.

The 30-share Sensex ended up 123 points at 29,682 and the 50-share Nifty gained for the 10th straight session to end at 8,952, up 38 points from its previous close. A similar 10-day rally was seen in the Nifty from March 21, 2014 to April 02, 2014.

BSE Realty index was the top sectoral gainer up 3.1% followed by Oil and Gas, FMCG, Healthcare and Capital Goods among others.

"Nifty started the January series trading in the range of 8,100-8,400. In the second half of the month, it witnessed a breakout to test 8,950-9,000 on the higher side. Metal stocks, however, remained under pressure for the entire series," said Sahaj Agrawal, Deputy Vice President- Derivatives Research, Kotak Securities in a post market note.

"The index continues to remain in uptrend with support seen at 8,775 levels. On the higher, side 9,300-9,350 can be tested. Options open interest build up is seen at 9,000 calls and 8,800 put options indicating a narrow range for the initial few trading sessions. Breach of 8,775 is expected to invite significant selling pressure. Expect oil and gas and banking stocks to perform. Midcaps can also catch up as there has been selective participation. Metal stocks could also witness a turnaround from current levels," he adds.

RUPEE:

The Indian rupee was trading lower at 61.67 to the US dollar compared to previous close of 61.41 on the back of month-end dollar demand from importers. Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors were net buyers in Indian equities worth Rs 1,723 crore on Wednesday, as per provisional stock exchange data.

BUZZING STOCKS:

HDFC Bank ended up 3.4% after after the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday approved HDFC Bank’s proposal to raise up to Rs 10,000 crore by selling shares to foreign investors.

Dr Reddy's Labs ended up 3.7%. The pharma major today reported a third quarter net profit of Rs 575 crore, down 7% from Rs 618 crore in the year-ago quarter. However, the operating margins came in at 18.8%, with EBITDA at Rs 1,050 crore.

RIL ended higher by 2.4%. According to media reports, RIL has won the contract to supply diesel to the Indian Railways replacing Indian Oil Corporation.

Other Sensex gainers include, ITC and capital goods majors L&T and BHEL which ended up 1.3-3% each.

HDFC ended down 2.6%. The mortgage lender reported a Q3 net profit of Rs 1,425 crore, up 11.5% from the year-ago quarter. It had reported net profit of Rs 1,277 crore in the quarter ended 31 December, 2013. Among others, ICICI Bank and SBI were down 1-2% each.

Coal India ended down 2.3% amid profit taking on concerns that the 10% stake sale by the government will be at a discount to the current market price.

Asian Paints shed 3% because of single digit volume growth in the decorative paint segment due to sluggish demand. However, the company reported 11.78% increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 368.18 crore for the third quarter ended December 2014.

Among other shares, Oriental Bank of Commerce slumped 10% after reporting a 91.27% decline in net profit at Rs 19.56 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2014, dragged by higher provisions.

Torrent Pharmaceuticals slipped 6% after standalone net profit for the quarter ended December 2014 dipped nearly 10% to Rs 103 crore compared to Rs 114 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.

Alstom T&D ended 10% lower after the engineering major reported sharp drop in third quarter earnings amid sluggish sales. Net profit for the quarter ended December 2014 slumped 86% to Rs 2.6 crore compared with Rs 19 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.

In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap ended down 0.3% while the Small-cap index ended up 0.1%. Market breadth was almost neutral with 1,452 losers and 1,424 gainers on the BSE.