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By 1130, Sensex surged by 128 points at 19,541, and the Nifty up 42 points at 5,905 levels. The Sensex and the Nifty reached an intra-day high of 19,582 levels and 5,914 mark, respectively.
According to Gaurav Dua, Head of Research, Sharekhan, “Nifty is likely to consolidate between the levels of 5,700 to 6,100 till RBI policy review meet. A positive surprise of policy rates cuts of higher than 25 bps could help the markets break through the higher end of the range or else we would continue to spend more time here.
On a slightly longer term, we are constructive on equities for the next 12 month period and believe that the Nifty could give returns of 10-12% in FY14 which would be in line with the growth in corporate earnings. So our advice is to accumulate quality stocks around lower level of trading range; we are structurally bullish on banks, oil & gas and certain section of consumer businesses”
On the global front, first-time jobless claims in US unexpectedly fell by 7,000 to 340,000 in the week ended March 2, the lowest since the period ended January 19, according to data on Thursday from the Labor Department in Washington.
Meanwhile, China said February exports grew 21.8 percent from a year earlier, more than double the rise forecast, while imports fell 15.2 percent, deeper than an 8.8 percent drop forecast.
Asian markets traded mixed with China's Shanghai Composite Index up 0.01% to 2,325 , Singapore's Straits Times dropping 0.16% to 3,293 , Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 1.1% to 23,014 while Japan's Nikkei gained 2% to 12,219.
Back home, BSE Oil & Gas, PSU and Metal indices have surged over 1% followed by counters like Realty, Consumer Durable, FMCG, Banks, Power and Capital Goods, all gaining by nearly 1% each. However, BSE IT index as declined by almost 1%.
The main gainers on the Sensex at this hour include JSPL, Hero Moto, HDFC, GAIL, Tata Steel, CIL, ONGC, RIL, ITC, Cipla and NTPC, all gaining between 1-3%.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch downgraded automakers Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd and Bajaj Auto Ltd to "underperform" from "buy" each, citing share gains since mid-2012 and valuations it considered "not compelling."
BofA Merrill also cut its price target on Bajaj Auto by 16% to Rs 1,925, and its price target on Mahindra and Mahindra to Rs 883 from Rs 965, according to its report dated March 8.
Kotak Institutional Equities yesterday upgraded Hero MotoCorp Ltd to "add" from "sell", and maintained its "reduce" rating on Bajaj Auto.
On the losing side, Infosys, DRL, Hindalco, TCS and Tata Motors have declined 1-1.5%.
Among other shares, Adani Power is trading higher by nearly 4% at Rs 50.25 after the promoter of the company increased its stake in the company through open market transaction.
The broader indices are outperforming the benchmark indices. BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices have gained by nearly 1% each.
The market breadth in BSE remains healthy with 1,476 shares advancing and 828 shares declining.
