Nifty inches towards 5300; rupee gains above 49/USD

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The market retained its opening trade gains as buying continued across sectors. Appreciation of Indian rupee above the 49 level also added to the buying sentiment. The rupee, which rose 28 paise, is currenly trading at 48.98 to the dollar. The Sensex rose 181.64 points to 17,482.22 and the Nifty went up 49 points to 5,284.65.

Nifty above 5200 mark is definitely a surprise factor, says Shruti Vora of Antique Stock Broking. "The rally has been primarily driven by money flows followed by stock specific and some macro news flows," she adds.

According to her, if the Nifty sustains above the 5200 mark it could go on to 5400 levels.

Shares of Sterlite Industries topped the buying list, rising nearly 6%. BHEL shot up 4.6% and Tata Power continued its run up by gaining another 3.5% today.

Among others, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, Infosys, L&T, SBI, HUL, TCS, Bharti, Wipro, ONGC, Hero MotoCorp, Coal India, JSPL, DLF and Hindalco gained 1-2%.

However, ITC and Cipla underperformed, falling 0.4% & 1%, respectively.

The broader markets are in line with benchmarks - the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were up 1% each.

The market breadth remained strong; about 2.5 shares gained for every share falling on the BSE.

At 9:19 hours IST : Sensex rises over 150 pts on strong global cues

The Sensex rallied over 150 points in the opening trade following strong global cues, tracking better than expected manufacturing data in US and UK. Almost every sector was on buyers' radar; banks, capital goods, oil & gas and metals were the leading ones.

The Sensex was up 174 points at 17,474 and the Nifty went up 46 points to 5,282.

Asian markets were trading 0.4-1.4% higher today. US markets closed nearly a percent higher yesterday.

Back home, frontliners like Tata Power, Coal India, Tata Steel, Hindalco, Tata Motors, Hero MotoCorp, Ambuja Cements, ICICI Bank, SBI, BHEL, L&T, Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel, ONGC and GAIL gained 1-2% in early trade.

However, Infosys, Cpla, ITC, HUL and HDFC Bank were flat.

The CNX Midcap Index rose 65 points to 7,253. The market breadth was quite strong; about six shares advanced for every share falling on the National Stock Exchange. 

In the second line shares, GVK, Lanco Infra, IVRCL and Sintex were up 3% each.

Dena Bank gained 4% as board will meet on February 6th to consider issue of preferential shares to insurance companies, MFs

UCO Bank was up 2% and SKS Microfinance went up 3%. Everest Kanto rallied 5%.

EGoM will meet for disinvestment on Thursday. ITI shot up 10.5% and STC rose 4%.

Results Reactions

Hexaware shot up 7% as its net profit in Q4 jumped 36% to Rs 88.2 crore while company beat its revenues guidance QoQ.

Mahindra Satyam jumped 4% on 29% rise in its Q3 net profit quarter-on-quarter.

Ashok Leyland fell 4% on less than expected numbers, though net jumped 54.4% year-on-year.

SPARC lost 5% as company posted a loss of Rs 17.9 crore in Q3 versus profit of Rs 2.9 crore.