Nifty ends above 5300 1st time since Apr; metals up 2%

The BSE Sensex remained in a consolidation phase for the third consecutive session on Wednesday, especially after a smart rally of more than 400 points on last Friday due to European Union Summit. Volumes were quite low in the beginning of July as compared to previous month, but the broader markets outperformed benchmarks - The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were up 0.9%.

The NSE Nifty closed above the 5300 level for the first time since April 19, 2012 that rose 14.60 points to close at 5,302.55. Meanwhile, the BSE benchmark moved up 37.10 points to 17,462.81.

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TS Anantakrishnan, director, Prime Broking says, more than the global factors, the Nifty will be driven by local factors. "From a broad market perspective, we think the range will be between 5,100 and 5,500. But I think it's more stock specific. Within the same sector, there is huge divergence in terms of returns," he adds.

Metal stocks were quite strong today as the BSE Metal Index surged 2%. Sterlite Industries topped the buying list, rising over 5%. Sesa Goa shot up over 4% and Jindal Steel gained 3.4%. Tata Steel and Hindalco were up over 1%.

Top telecom operator Bharti Airtel rallied for the second consecutive session after TDSAT verdict. The stock rose 2%. Country's largest lender State Bank of India rose 1.85%.

Engineering and construction major by sales Larsen & Toubro moved up 0.9% as its subsidiary L&T construction has received orders worth Rs 1,523 crore. State-owned power equipment manufacturer BHEL was up 0.7%. Top car maker Maruti Suzuki spiked 2.56%.

However, state-owned oil & gas producer ONGC declined 1.9% as WTI crude spiked 4% yesterday. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries was down just 0.3%.

FMCG majors ITC and HUL were down 0.3% and 1%, respectively. Software services exporters Infosys and Wipro dropped 0.66% and 1.5%, respectively.

Air-conditioner manufacturers Hitachi Home & Life Solutions shot up 20% and Whirlpool of India rose 10%. Voltas was up 7% and Blue Star rallied 12.56%.

In the second line shares, JSW Steel, Uttam Galva Steel and Hindustan Zinc jumped 3-6.6%. Kalyani Steels spiked 16%.

Ashok Leyland, HDIL, Dish TV, Indiabulls Real, Punj Lloyd and GMR Infrastructure rallied 2-5%. However, Sun TV, Crompton and Titan Industries were down 1.5-3%.

About two shares advanced for every share declining on the National Stock Exchange.

European shares retreated from two-month highs after three days of gains made on hopes of more monetary stimulus from central banks and progress made in dealing with the euro zone debt crisis. France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE were down 0.2%-0.4%.

Activity was expected to be subdued with US markets closed for the Independence Day holiday, and ahead of meetings of European Central Bank and Bank of England policy makers on Thursday.

(With inputs from Reuters)