Nifty holds 5400 at close; Indian gold prices at life high

Benchmark Nifty held on the 5400-mark on Thursday, though it spent most of the session consolidating,  keeping hopes of 5600 very much alive for active traders

IT stocks hogged the limelight of the day after minutes from the Federal Reserve meeting suggest the US central bank is moving towards monetary stimulus measures. Defensives like FMCG and pharma also equally supported the Nifty to hold 5400 mark.

The Sensex closed flat at 17850.22 up 3.36 points or 0.02% and the Nifty ended at 5418.30 up 5.45 points or 0.10%. About 1303 shares advanced, 1457 shares declined, and 685 shares remain unchanged. 
 
The Golden Moment

Buoyed by a firm trend in the overseas markets, gold futures prices today climbed to all-time high of Rs 31,029 per 10 grams as speculators indulged in enlarging positions.

Rising spot demand in domestic markets for the wedding season also pushed gold futures to trade at record high, traders said.

Cairn India, Ranbaxy Labs, TCS, Wipro and Infosys were top gainers in the Nifty. Mahindra and Mahindra, Reliance Infra, Larsen, Reliance and ONGC were top losers.

Credit Suisse upbeat on ITC

Credit Suisse has initiated coverage of Indian consumer staple companies such as ITC with "outperform" ratings, saying price-to-earnings premiums are "high", but "far from the peak", while adding earnings growth are "steady."

Reliance shares fell 1.73%, ending down for a fourth consecutive session, although the energy conglomerate is still up nearly 7% for the month.

Shares in Hindustan Zinc gain 2% on media reports that Vedanta Group is willing to increase its offer price to buy the government's remaining stakes in Hindustan Zinc and Bharat Aluminium Company (Balco).

Rupee at one week high

The rupee rose to an over one-week high on Thursday after the euro jumped to a seven-week high on hopes of monetary easing by the Federal Reserve and as the government made it easier for companies to tap overseas funds.