Sensex gains 250 pts; Maruti, DLF, Hindalco rise 4%

Equity benchmarks maintained their uptrend despite profit booking at higher levels. Experts believe investors are adopting sell-on-rally strategy to guard against any eventuality.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 250 points to 17,106 and the 50-share NSE Nifty went up 78 points to 5,150. The broader indices continued to outperform; the BSE Midcap index was up 2.3% and Smallcap up nearly 3%.

In the F&O segment, Put writing is seen around 4600 strike price, which added 16 lakh shares in open interest. However, Nifty 5200 call added 3 lakh shares in open interest, which suggested some call writing. Tata Motors has seen huge long build up, adding 53000 shares in open interest; the stock was up 7%.

M&M, Maruti, Hindalco, DLF and SAIL were top gainers, with rising 4-6%.

European markets opened on a strong note following rally in US markets yesterday. Federal Reserve said interest rates would stay near-zero for the next two years. But they have shaved off about 1% from early gains.

France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE gained 0.5-1.5%. However, Dow Jones futures lost 90 points.

At 12:45 hours IST : Nifty holds 5150 as European markets join global rally

Indian benchmarks continued to trade in the green as European markets joined the global rally. The DAX, CAC and FTSE were up 1-3% in opening trades.

Back home, the NSE Nifty held on the 5150 level, while the Sensex was up 287.37 points or 1.70% at 17145.28. Meanwhile, the BSE auto index was the top gainer, up nearly 4%.

Strong buying interest was also seen in realty, IT, banks, metal, capital goods and IT stocks.

Market breadth was also healthy at 2181 shares advancing to every declining, while 950 shares remained unchanged.

Top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors at Rs 845 up 6.22%, M&M at Rs 727.90 up 4.79%, DLF at Rs 208.85 up 4.06%, Maruti Suzuki at Rs 1,256 up 3.99% and Hindalco at Rs 153.25 up 3.69%.

Most active shares on BSE were Inventure Growth, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Steel, SBI and Tata Motors.

Fertiliser stocks were on buyer radar. Chambal Fertilisers was quoting at Rs 100.65, up Rs 7.45, or 7.99%. Fertilisers and Chemicals was quoting at Rs 43.30, up Rs 4.75, or 12.32%. National Fertilizers was quoting at Rs 85.15, up Rs 4.50, or 5.58%.

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At 12:20 hours IST : Sensex sheds marginal gains on fresh Korean tussle

Indian equity benchmarks erased some its early gains after fresh scuffle emerged between North and South Korea. The 30-share BSE Sensex lost about 90 points from day's high, however, heavy buying kept positive sentiment intact.

The benchmark gained 267 points at 17,125 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rallied 83 points to 5,156.

Heavyweights TCS, Infosys, SBI, Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, L&T and BHEL were up 2-3%. Tata Motors remained the biggest gainer, with gaining over 6%.

However, ONGC, Bharti Airtel, HUL, GAIL and BPCL went down 1-1.6%. ITC, Ranbaxy Labs, Tata Power, Siemens and Grasim were other losers.

At 11:42 hours IST : Sensex holds on to early gains; Tata Motors top gainer

It was green all over the screen today with bulls going full throttle across the globe. The pullback was powered by short covering. The 30-share BSE Sensex was trading at 17,154, up 296 points and the 50-share NSE Nifty jumped 93 points to 5,166.

Tata Motors was leading the largecap space, gaining 6% as it had beaten quite badly on fears of slowdown in US and Europe.

Among other laregcaps, top gainers like Hindalco, M&M, DLF, Infosys and SAIL surged 3.5-5%.

ONGC lost 1.5% on profit booking. Earlier the stock rallied, when the markets sharply corrected in previous five sessions, on hopes that subsidy sharing burden may come down post more than 20% fall in crude oil prices in last few sessions.

HUL, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, BPCL and GAIL too were under pressure, with falling 0.5-1%.

In the midcap space, Monsanto India jumped 13% as company will consider bonus share issue on August 13.

Among other midcaps, Page Industries, India Securities, Jubilant Foodworks and Gujarat NRE Coke were up 8-9%.

In the smallcap space, Midvalley Enterprises shot up 17%. EIH Associated Hotel, Nitin Fire Protection, Aanjaneya Life and Zenith Infotech rallied 9-10%.

At 11:00 hours IST : Nifty scores a ton; broader indices on fire

The bulls are back with a vengeance and how. The 30-share BSE Sensex surged 329 points to 17,186 and the 50-share NSE Nifty scored 103 points to 5,176.

Sectors like technology, realty, auto, bank, metal and capital goods, which got butchered in previous five sessions on poor global cues, were seeing huge buying interest. Their respective sectoral indices rallied anywhere between 2-3%.

Broader indices were outperforming the benchmarks. The BSE Midcap Index went up 2.2% and Smallcap gained nearly 3%.

Market breadth too was strong - about 11 shares gained for every one share declined.

Asian markets like Hang Seng and Taiwan were up 3-3.5%. Shanghai, Nikkei and Kospi rose 1-2%.

At 10:32 hours IST: Sensex up 350 pts; ONGC, BPCL, HUL, Grasim trail

Indian equity benchmarks are celebrating the rally seen across globe. The 30-share BSE Sensex shot up 355 points to 17,213 and the 50-share NSE Nifty jumped 110 points to 5,183.

Heavyweights like TCS, Reliance Industries, Infosys, HDFC Bank, SBI, ICICI Bank, BHEL and L&T gained 2-4%. Sterlite Industries, SAIL and Tata Motors rallied 3.5-5%. ONGC, HUL, Grasim and BPCL were the only losers on Nifty.

SBI, Tata Steel, Inventure Growth, Reliance Industries, Mahindra Satyam, Infosys, TCS and M&M were most active shares on exchanges.

Among midcaps, Monsanto India, Jubilant Foodworks, Jai Corp, Gujarat NRE Coke and Jindal PolyFilm rallied 7-11%. However, KGN Industries lost 5%.

Brent crude too went up by USD 2.4 /bbl to USD 105/bbl.

At 9:56 hours IST : Sensex holds 300 pts gain; Tata Motors, Hindalco, TCS surge

The benchmark Sensex was holding the 300 points gain led by buying across sectors. Technology, banking, capital goods and metal were the prominent sectors; respective sectoral indices gained 2-3%.

The Nifty was trading steady above the 5150 level; it shot up 99 points to 5,172 on support from 46 stocks. The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 321 points to 17,178.

Tata Motors, Hindalco, Sterlite Industries, DLF, TCS and HCL Tech were top gainers among largecaps, rising between 3% and 4.5%. HUL, GAIL and Sun Pharma were other gainers.

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At 9:18 hours IST : Sensex witnesses splendid pullback; Tech finds new takers

Indian benchmark indices witnessed a magnificent pullback on Wednesday following a splendid bounce-back in the US markets; courtesy Fed's announcement that interest rates will stay near-zero for the next two years. The euphoria was reflected in the market breadth. The advance-decline ratio stood at 7:1.

The benchmark Sensex rallied nearly 400 points in the opening trade on short covering. However, there was some profit booking at higher levels as a few investors sold-on on the rally. The 30-share Sensex jumped 293 points to 17,151 and the 50-share NSE Nifty went up 92 points to 5,165. 

Most beaten sectors like metal, realty and technology saw huge buying interest. Sterlite Industries, HCL Tech, Infosys and TCS were up 3-4%.

DLF was up 4% and Tata Motors gained 4%. Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group companies' shares like Reliance Power, Reliance Capital and Reliance Infrastructure too rallied 4-5%.

In the banking space, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and SBI were up 2-3%.

However, HUL fell half a percent.

The CNX Midcap rose 147 points to 7,657. Market breadth was in favour of advances - about 611 shares were advancing as against 54 shares declining.

Mahindra Satyam shot up 10% on stellar performance in April-June quarter of 2011. PAT of the company stood at Rs 225.2 crore in Q1 as against loss of Rs 327 crore in previous quarter and EBITDA shot up to Rs 210 crore from Rs 178.3 crore quarter-on-quarter.

United Breweries and GSPL gained 2.5-3% post first quarter numbers. Adani Enterprises went up 2% ahead of quarterly numbers.

High beta - Suzlon Energy jumped up 4%.

VIP Industries and Lovable Lingerie were up 3-4%. Gujarat NRE Coke, Firstsource and Jubilant Foodworks too rallied around 5%.

Global cues

Asian markets too bounced back after big sell-off in last few days. Shanghai, Nikkei, Hang Seng, Kospi and Taiwan were up 1.5-3%. However, Straits Times fell 0.9%.

The US equity markets witnessed best single session gain in last 2 years amid huge volatility on Tuesday. Federal Reserve pledged to keep interest rates near zero through mid-2013. Gold slipped nearly USD 40 from intra-day highs.

Markets sold immediately post Fed statement as Fed didn