Sensex posts biggest monthly gains since Sept 2010

The market posted biggest ever monthly gains since September 2010, rising 11% on Sensex led by highest monthly inflow of foreign money since November 2010. The Nifty closed tad below the 5200 mark while the Sensex rallied over 17000 level quite smartly.

Factors that steered the January rally included sharp appreciation in rupee, value buying by institutional investors, rate cut hopes, eurozone progress, better US economic data and Fed's decision to keep rates near zero till the 2014.

The market managed to recover majority of yesterday's losses on Tuesday. The Sensex rose 330.25 points or 1.96%, to close at 17,193.55 and the Nifty moved up 111.95 points or 2.20%, to end at 5,199.25.

Foreign institutional investors have bought more than Rs 10,500 crore worth of Indian equity shares in January - highest ever since the November 2010.

Capital goods, banks, metals and oil & gas led the rally in January as they heavily beaten down in 2011. However, technology sector underperformed due to weak eurozone.

Varun Goel, Head - PMS at Karvy Private Wealth said he would continue to hold his view of 20-25% of gains for the calendar year.

According to him, the key trigger for markets now is what RBI decides from here on. He says, if the RBI starts cutting repo from March itself then we would see rally to continue.

He says now the leadership should shift from largecap to midcap space. "Last year a lot of the mid caps got beaten down 60-70-80% - especially some of the sectors like PSU banking space and infrastructure. As and when we see a reversal of the interest rate cycle we would see some of these stocks bounce back very sharply," he adds.

Today, the Bank Nifty shot up 4% led by rally in ICICI Bank post better than expected numbers in Q3. Its net jumped 20.25% to Rs 1,728 crore on improvement in non-performing assets (NPAs) while CNBC-TV18 had expected at Rs 1,621 crore. The stock surged nearly 6%.

Shares of HDFC Bank and SBI were up 2.5% & 3.5%, respectively. However, PNB fell 1.5% on disappointing numbers.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries moved up 2.5%. Capital goods major BHEL, which tanked 11% yesterday, rebounded with 2% gains.

Metals too saw buying interest; Hindalco topped the buyers' radar, rising 6.65%. Tata Steel, Jindal Steel and Sterlite were up 2% each while Coal India tanked 3%.

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group's stocks like Reliance Communications, Reliance Power and Reliance Infra jumped 4-7%.

Among auto stocks, Tata Motors shot up 4%; Bajaj Auto was up 3.5% and Hero Motocorp gained 2% whereas Maruti fell 1%.

In the technology space, Infosys, TCS and Wipro gained 0.9-1.9%. Shares of realty player DLF jumped over 5%.

The broader markets too rallied smartly; the BSE Midcap Index moved up 2% and Smallcap up 1.4%.

Advancing shares outnumbered declining by 1815 to 1026 on the BSE. The Indian rupee appreciated by 37.5 paise to 49.42 a dollar.

On the global front, European markets like France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE were up 1% each. The Dow Jones futures gained 77 points.

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At 15:01 hours IST : Sensex adds 300 pts; Bank Nifty rises 3.5%

The Sensex rallied 300 points, aided by banks, technology, auto (barring Maruti) and capital goods stocks. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries continued to play supportive role, rising 2%. Even the Indian rupee gained 47 paise at 49.32 to the dollar.

It seems like the market may recover all its previous session's losses. The Sensex was up 298 points at 17,162 and the Nifty went up 98 points to 5,185.

Banks topped the buying list with NSE Bank Nifty gaining 3.6%. ICICI Bank shot up over 6% post better than expected growth in Q3 numbers. SBI jumped 3.6%; HDFC Bank was up 1.8% and HDFC up 1.4%.

Shares of Tata Motors extended gains, rising nearly 4%. Among metals stocks, Hindalco surged 5%; Jindal Steel, Tata Steel and Sterlite Industries were up 1-2.6%.

Among other largecaps, Infosys, ITC, TCS and Bharti Airtel gained 1-1.7%. Auto stocks like Hero Motocorp and Bajaj Auto climbed 2-3%.

However, Coal India topped the selling list, falling 3.5%. HUL, Maruti and NTPC were down 0.5-1.4%.

The market breadth remained in favour of advances; about 1703 shares advanced while 1063 shares declined on the BSE.

At 14:11 hours IST : Nifty holds on to morning gains; ICICI Bank up 5% on Q3 nos

Consistent buying in banks, oil & gas, technology, realty and auto (barring Maruti) helped the market to maintain its sharp upmove. European markets too moved up around 0.7-1%. Back home, the Sensex gained 210 points at 17,073.20 and the Nifty rose 66.5 points to 5,153.80.

Shares of ICICI Bank jumped over 5% after better than expected 20.25% growth year-on-year in its net profit of Rs 1,728 crore on improvement in non-performing assets (NPAs). CNBC-TV18 poll saw net at Rs 1,621 crore. Net interest income too rose 17.4% to Rs 2,712 crore YoY.

However, PNB disappointed the street. The stock fell nearly 3% as it reported a net profit of Rs 1,150 crore in October-December quarter of FY12 as against expectations of Rs 1,262 crore, due to rising NPAs.

Among banks and financials stocks, SBI gained 2.8%; HDFC and HDFC Bank were up around 1%.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries retained its 2% gains. Infosys, ITC, TCS, Tata Motors and BHEL among other largecaps gained around 1%.

Shares of Bajaj Auto, Hindalco and DLF shot up over 3%. However, HUL, Coal India and Maruti fell 1.7%; NTPC and L&T lost 0.8%.

The Indian rupee appreciated by 35 paise to 49.44 a dollar.

At 12:57 hours IST : Sensex surges 200 pts; Bajaj Auto, Hindalco top gainers

The market extended gains in the afternoon trade, supported majorly by index heavyweights Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and SBI. The Sensex gained 213.84 points at 17,077.14 and the Nifty moved up 68.5 points to 5,155.80.

Punita Kumar Sinha, Managing Partner, Pacific Paradigm Advisors feels that inflows into risky assets will be supportive for Indian equities.

Shares of ICICI Bank and SBI were biggest gainers among top three largecaps, rising 3% each. HDFC, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank and PNB were up 1-2%.

Index heavyweights Reliance Industries and ONGC moved up 2% & 0.9%, respectively. In the technology space, TCS, Infosys and Wipro went up 0.7-1.5%.

Among others, Bajaj Auto, Hindalco and DLF shot up 3-3.5%. ITC, Tata Motors, Jindal Steel and Hero Motocorp were up 1.5-2%.

However, L&T, HUL, NTPC, Coal India and Maruti were down 0.4-1%.

The broader markets too were on buyers' radar - the BSE Midcap Index was up 1.16% and Smallcap up 0.85%.

In the second line shares, Tata Global Beverage, Hexaware Tech, Aurobindo Pharma, KSK Energy Ventures and MTNL jumped 5-8%.

Smallcap stocks like Nitin Fire Protection shot up 16% and Shrenuj and Company rose 15%. Aanjaneya Life, Ingersoll Rand and Jai Balaji Ind climbed 7-10%.

Asian markets moved up further at close; Taiwan Weighted jumped 1.5%. Shanghai, Hang Seng and Kospi were up 0.3-0.8%.

At 11:40 hours IST : Sensex holds 17000; L&T, Tata Steel underperform

The market retained its uptrend since early morning, though it erased some gains due to moderate sell-off in Reliance Industries. Banks, oil & gas, auto (barring Maruti) and technology stocks were supporting the market while the fall in L&T capped some of the upside. The Nifty remained above the 5100 level, rising 53.5 points to 5,140.80. Meanwhile, the Sensex gained 174 points at 17,037.53.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries saw some selling pressure, moving up just 1.7% (which rallied nearly 2.5%). Sources claimed that oil ministry will send notice to RIL on KG-D6 gas shortfall within 2 weeks.

Shares of country's largest lenders ICICI Bank (ahead of third quarter numbers) and SBI gained 2.76% & 2.4%, respectively. HDFC Bank and HDFC rose 1% each.

Among auto stocks, Bajaj Auto jumped 2.4%; Tata Motors, M&M and Hero Motocorp were up 0.5-0.9% while Maruti fell 1.5%.

Technology majors TCS and Infosys went up 1.4-1.8%; Wipro rose 0.7%. Shares of largest telecom player Bharti jumped nearly a percent.

However, capital goods major L&T remained under pressure, falling 1.6%. Tata Steel was the biggest loser among largecaps, falling 2%. NTPC, HUL, Coal India and Sterlite were down 0.5-1%.

At 10:33 hours IST : Nifty rises 1%; Reliance, ICICI Bank, SBI lead

The market was trading sharply higher led by index heavyweights Reliance, SBI and ICICI Bank. Even Infosys, ONGC, Bharti and TCS too were playing supportive role. However, capital goods stocks slipped further. The Sensex was up 170 points at 17,033.44 and the Nifty rose 53.4 points to 5,140.70.

It looks like a short covering led rally in today's trade as the market had fallen 371 points on the Sensex yesterday; FIIs turned sellers for the first time since inflow of USD 2 billion in January, selling Rs 202 crore worth of shares in cash market and Rs 423 crore in F&O segment. Even domestic institutional investors sold Rs 534 crore worth of shares yesterday, as per provisional data available on NSE.

Rahul Mohinder of viratechindia.com tells CNBC-TV18 that yesterday