Sensex sings the global tune, zooms 447 points

Strong global markets and encouraging March sales reported by sectors such as automobiles and cement helped the Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index (Sensex) close in the green for the fourth consecutive week (the markets are closed on Friday for Ram Navami).

This is the first time after August 2008 that the benchmark index has closed in the positive for four weeks in a row.

The outlook, however, is not that optimistic. Most market players don’t expect the momentum to hold, as the world economic slump is far from over. Back home, the corporate results season and the general elections might throw up some nasty surprises, many analysts said.

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s statement in London, where he is attending the G-20 summit, that global economies are showing “traction” amid widening stimulus efforts, pushed Asian stocks to a three-month high, building a three-day rally on hopes that the US economy has bottomed.

The Sensex took the hint and climbed 446.84 points, or 4.51 per cent, to close at a four-month high of 10,348. The S&P CNX Nifty closed 150.70 points or 4.92 per cent at 3211.05 points.

Reliance Industries, with a 15 per cent weight in the Sensex, led the rally rising 5.3 per cent to Rs 1,662.50 after it began gas production from a Krishna-Godavari block. Banks also rallied in line with their global peers. ICICI Bank, the largest private sector bank, rose 5.1 per cent to Rs 349.45, while HDFC, the second largest gained 3 per cent to Rs 997.15.

Both foreign and domestic institutions were on a buying spree. Foreign institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 691.73 crore and domestic institutional investors were net buyers of Rs 254.71 crore.
 

HAPPY DAY
	Price (Rs)	% Chg*
TOP SENSEX GAINERS
DLF	203.35	15.08
Jaiprakash	96.7	13.23
Tata Motors	202.95	12.84
RCom	196.15	9
ONGC	870.4	8.28
Wipro	270.25	7.41
Tata Steel	224.85	7.15
Hindalco	56.35	7.03
Larsen & Toubro	717.25	6.65
SBI	1145.35	6.65
ONLY SENSEX LOSER
HUL	230.9	-2.49
* over previous close

All the sectoral indices closed in the positive, except the fast moving consumer durable index that was flat at -0.31 per cent. The realty index rose by 9.13 per cent, followed by metals (6.85 per cent), oil and gas (5.73 per cent) and capital goods (5.32 per cent).

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong on the BSE with 1,890 stocks advancing as compared with 507 that declined. A total of 69 shares remained unchanged. All the Sensex stocks rose, with Tata Motors, Jaiprakash Associates, Mahindra & Mahindra and RCom gaining between 9.64 per cent and 13.34 per cent.

Dharmesh Mehta, head (broking), Enam Securities, said, “Although the markets have rallied by over 25 per cent, some of the individual stocks have given even more handsome returns. However, with the results season around the corner, there is a general perception that there will be more bad news and therefore, we believe that markets are at the top end of the rally.”

Some, however, are hoping for the best. Brokers said that domestic institutional players which were unable to participate in the last rally have started looking for opportunities. During the year-end many of them had sold aggressively to meet redemption pressure.

Many mutual fund houses are also sitting on over 20 per cent cash. Also, high net worth individuals have started entering the market.