Sensex extends rally; BHEL up 3% post Q4 numbers

The BSE Sensex continued to trade higher and NSE Nifty consistently retained the 5350 level quite nicely. Index heavyweights Reliance Industries, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and Larsen & Toubro were the major contributors in today's rally, which surged more than 2%.

State-owned engineering company Bharat Heavy Electricals shot up 3% post better than expected provisional numbers for fourth quarter and financial year 2011-12. The company reported a growth of 14% year-on-year in FY12 turnover of Rs 49,301 crore and profit after tax grew by 14% to Rs 6,868 crore (CNBC-TV18 had expected at Rs 6,493 crore). Its profit after tax in Q4 spiked 15% YoY to Rs 3,208 crore.

The BSE Sensex moved up 170 points or 1% to 17,648 and the NSE Nifty rose 55 points to 5,373.

Metals stocks extended rally in afternoon trade - Sterlite Industries and Hindalco jumped 3-3.5%. Jaiprakash Associates and Cairn India shot up 4.5% each.

However, shares of TCS, Hero Motocorp and Maruti were down 1-1.8%. HUL, Sun Pharma and M&M fell 0.3-0.8%.

The Indian rupee gained 0.6% to a ten-day high of 50.56 a dollar on strong risk on sentiment across Asian markets and currencies. Three-day holiday has also led to bunched up flows.

Government bond prices tumbled and yields jumped as the government prepares to inaugurate the borrowing season with the largest ever borrowing in a single week at Rs 18,000 crore. Yield on the 12-year bond, Rs 8000 crore of which will hit the market, has jumped to a 4-month high of 8.76%; the 10-year yield is at 8.67%.