Nov F&O expiry: Nifty ends below 8,500; BHEL jumps 4%

Markets ended marginally higher on Thursday amid a rally in late trades with information technology shares leading the gains following the expiry of November derivative contracts.

Volumes were large because of the expiry of November derivative contracts. Total market turnover stood at Rs 10.1 lakh crore, second largest ever.

The 30-share Sensex ended 53 points higher at 28,439 and the 50-share Nifty closed 18 points higher at 8,494.

The broader markets outperformed the benchmark indices. BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices were up 0.5-1%.

The market breadth in BSE ended positive with 1,574 shares advancing and 1,342 shares declining.

On the macro-economic front, a Reuter’s survey has estimated the GDP growth rate for the July-September quarter to come around 5.1% down from 5.7% in the previous quarter. The official figures will be released tomorrow by the government.

Further, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will meet Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan on Dec 1 to urge a cut in interest rates when the central bank holds a policy meeting the next day, a senior finance ministry source said

Today, the 12-nation Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will hold one of its toughest and most significant meetings in recent years in Vienna, with members under pressure to address falling prices, which have sunk 30% since June.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors were net buyers in Indian equities worth Rs 181.46 crore on Wednesday, as per provisional stock exchange data.

At 3:40 PM, the rupee was trading at 61.87 versus Wednesday's close of 61.84. However, the dollar is likely to firm up on the back of demand from importers to meet month-end commitments.

ASIAN MARKETS

Asian stocks hit a one-month high on Thursday as investors bet that more central bank stimulus in China and Europe would shore up the global economy, while oil prices tumbled to a four-year low as hopes for output cuts by OPEC faded.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan advanced 0.3% while Shanghai shares hit a three-year high, extending their rally after a surprise interest rate cut last week. They are up 8.2% so far this month.

Japan's Nikkei shed 0.8% as the yen rebounded mildly but has gained 5.1% so far this month to become the second best performing market in the region after China following a surprise easing by the Bank of Japan at the end of October.

SECTORAL INDICES & BUZZING STOCKS

BSE IT, Healthcare, Power and TECk indices gained between 0.9-1.2%. However, BSE Consumer Durables and Realty indices slipped by almost 1% each.

The main gainers on the Sensex were BHEL, HUL, Tata Power, Cipla, Hindalco and Infosys.

BHEL was the top Sensex gainer, up over 4%. Citi has upgraded BHEL  to buy from sell, upping the target price to Rs 335, on the back of better inflow prospects. Citi believes the company has been able to arrest downcycle two years early and expects EPS CAGR of plus 43 percent over FY15-17E

IT shares saw fresh buying on back of positive macro-economic data from US, the primary markets for Indian IT majors. Infosys was up nearly 2% while TCS and Wipro were up 1% each.

Shares of Infosys moved higher and hit a fresh record high of Rs 4,363 in trade on National Stock Exchange (NSE) ahead of record date for bonus issue in ratio of 1:1.

ITC and HDFC which had led gains in the previous session witnessed profit taking. ITC slipped by nearly 1%. HDFC ended flat.

Bank shares also witnessed profit taking at higher levels with SBI, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank down 0.1-0.5% each.

Currency devaluation in Nigeria continues to weigh on stocks of Bharti Airtel. The stock was down nearly 2%.

Other notable losers were Tata Sttel, Sesa Sterlite, L&T, ONGC and Maruti Suzuki.

SMART MOVERS

Roto Pumps surged by over 10% on BSE as the stock turned ex-stock split today. The company has subdivided the face value of its equity shares to Re 2 from Rs 10.

Atul Auto zoomed 16% to Rs 529, extending its previous day’s 4% gain on NSE, after Goldman Sachs India Fund bought nearly 300,000 shares of the company from the open market on Tuesday.

Kopran rallied 7% to Rs 60 on BSE after the company said it has allotted 2.05 million equity shares and 2.15 million warrants, worth of Rs 27.72 crore, to Oricon Properties Private Limited, a promoter group company.

Era Infra Engineering was locked at 5% lower circuit at Rs 6.25 on BSE after IFCI sold 14.25 lakh shares of the company at Rs 6.61 per share in a bulk deal on NSE yesterday.

8K Miles Software Services was locked in upper circuit for second straight day, up 10% at Rs 626 on BSE, after the company through its US subsidiary announced the acquisition of SERJ Solutions, a provider of innovative Epic EHR consulting, custom application development, and support solutions for the healthcare market.

Crompton Greaves dipped 6% to Rs 192 on National Stock Exchange (NSE) after Avantha Holdings Ltd, the promoter group company, sold part of its stake through multiple block deals on NSE and BSE.