Indian equity benchmarks surged 1% in afternoon trade as the rupee gained 37 paise to trade at 54.99 as against the US dollar. Index heavyweights Reliance Industries, Infosys and L&T led the rally.
The BSE benchmark jumped 202 points or 1.23% to 16,656.26 and the NSE benchmark went up 54.45 points or 1.09% to 5,051.55. Even European markets like France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE rose 0.5% each.
Private oil & gas producer Reliance Industries and software services exporter Infosys climbed 1.65% each.
Private sector lenders ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank rallied 2.5% each while their rival State Bank of India was up 0.9%. Housing finance company HDFC moved up 0.8%.
Engineering and construction major by sales Larsen & Toubro jumped 1.7% and state-owned capital goods company BHEL was up 1%.
Top car maker Maruti Suzuki and country's largest two-wheeler manufacturer Hero Motocorp advanced 3%. Top commercial vehicle maker Tata Motors was up 1%.
Among metals and mining stocks, Sterlite Industries surged 3.5% while Jindal Steel, Tata Steel and Coal India went up 1-1.7%.
However, shares of TCS and Wipro were down 1-1.6% on profit booking. Hindalco declined 0.5%.
_PAGEBREAK_
At 12:40 hours IST: Volatile Sensex trades higher; RIL off day's high after AGMThe BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty stayed 0.5% higher amid volatility, though they came off day's high due to somewhat profit booking in Reliance Industries. Banks and auto stocks and Infosys were quite supportive.
The BSE benchmark rose 102 points to 16,556.16 and the NSE benchmark went up 25 points to 5,022.10 whereas the broader markets were marginally down.
India's most valued stock Reliance Industries trimmed gains from 2.5% to 1.4% over previous close after the speech in 38th annual general meeting.
Company's chairman Mukesh Ambani confidently said his company would invest around Rs one lakh crore in India to build stronger and a more diversified Reliance, and would double operating profits in 4-5 years, but he has not disclosed detailed plan of deployment of huge cash.
Even, however, he has not clarified about some important investments like 4G rollout, operationalising of financial services business (joint venture with DE Shaw), media companies etc that he made recently. He has just highlighted past performance more than future plans.
Mukesh Ambani also targets 60 mmscmd gas production from KG-D6 in next three-four years, but SP Tulsian of sptulsian.com raises doubts over this target after looking at current situation.
Private sector lenders ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank gained 1.7% and 1.8%, respectively while country's largest lender State Bank of India rose 0.4%. Housing finance company HDFC was up 0.6%.
Top two-wheeler maker Hero Motocorp and top car manufacturer Maruti Suzuki rallied over 2%.
Infosys, India's No. 2 software services exporter climbed 1.8% whereas its rivals TCS and Wipro fell 1.3% and 1.8%, respectively.
Cigarette major ITC, engineering and construction major by sales Larsen & Toubro and top telecom operator Bharti Airtel were marginally down.
Advancing shares outnumbered declining by just 769 to 581 on the National Stock Exchange.
On the global front, European markets opened flat today after yesterday's massive 2% rally.
At 11:04 hours IST: Nifty holds 5000; Reliance, Infosys, banks leadThe 30-share BSE Sensex maintained 100 points gains while the 50-share NSE Nifty stayed above the 5000 level due to index heavyweight Reliance Industries. Banks and metal stocks, and Infosys too led the market higher.
The BSE benchmark climbed 141.67 points to 16,595.97 and the NSE benchmark rose 33.95 points to 5,031.05. The broader markets were up 0.5%.
Mukesh Ambani group's flagship company Reliance surged over 2% ahead of annual general meeting today at 11 hours IST. Market experts expect some comments on its capex plan and buyback programme. They also expect some clarity over its businesses.
SP Tulsian of sptulsian.com said, “It’s a forum for pleasing the shareholders, where you will see them giving a broad outlook or reaffirming their positive stance on the exploration, upstream, petchem, refinery segments and all sort of things."
Tulsian expects Mukesh Ambani to shed some light on the company’s plans with regards to its new ventures, financial services and telecom, their retail business, shale gas operations and lastly about the development of a special economic zone (SEZ) in Haryana.
Private sector lenders ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank moved up nearly 2% while their rival State Bank of India was up 0.6%. Housing finance company HDFC rose 0.6%.
Country's second largest software services exporter Infosys rallied 2% whereas rival TCS fell 1.4%.
The Indian rupee appreciated by 19 paise to 55.17 as against the US dollar.
In the second line shares, Rallis India, Eros International, Punjab & Sind Bank, India Infoline and Voltas rallied 4-7% while Shree Global, S Mobility, Pantaloon Retail, Strides Arcolab and Gujarat Pipavav lost 2-5%.
Among smallcaps, Jindal Cotex, Jindal Drilling and Jindal PolyFilm surged 8-12%. SPML Infra and Orbit Corporation gained 6-7%. However, Navin Fluorine tanked 18%. KPR Mills, Tuni Textile, Surana Industries and AVT Natural were down 4-5%.
About two shares advanced for every share declining on the National Stock Exchange.
At 10:08 hours IST: Sensex, Nifty off day's high on profit booking; TCS down 1%Indian equity benchmarks shed somewhat initial gains due to profit booking in TCS, Larsen & Toubro, ONGC and Tata Motors. Bharti Airtel, BHEL and State Bank of India too came off day's high.
The BSE benchmark gained 90.85 points at 16,545.15 and the NSE benchmark went up 19.2 points at 5,016.30, but Asian markets maintained early gains.
Reliance Industries, India's most valued stock was quite supportive, extending gains to 1.8% ahead of annual general meeting today at 11 hours IST. Market experts expect some clarity over five businesses from Mukesh Ambani.
Infosys, county's No. 2 software services provider climbed 1.5% while its rival TCS lost over 1%.
Private sector lenders ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank moved up 1.5% and 1%, respectively while top lender State Bank of India rose just 0.24%. PNB and Bank of Baroda went down around 1%.
Metals and mining stocks continued to rally following upmove in commodities. Tata Steel, Sterlite Industries, Hindalco, JSPL and Coal India were up 1-2%.
Top car maker Maruti Suzuki and two-wheeler major Hero Motocorp went up 1.4% whereas Tata Motors fell 0.8% and M&M was down 1.3%.
State-owned oil & gas producer ONGC slipped 0.75%, and engineering and construction major by sales Larsen & Toubro declined 0.5%.
At 9:20 hours IST: Sensex gains 150 pts; RIL up 1% ahead of AGMThe BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty opened with 1% gap up on Thursday following rally across the globe, though there was somewhat profit booking as the market seemed to be priced in most of the global rally in yesterday's trade.
The BSE benchmark rose 152.54 or 0.93% to 16,606.84, which had rallied 434 points yesteday on hopes of ECB stimulus and rate cut by RBI (in policy meet on June 18). Meanwhile, the NSE benchmark gained 40.40 points or 0.81% at 5,037.50.
Globally markets are closely watching Fed chairman Ben Bernanke' testimony to the Congress today after Yellen comments. Fed Vice Chair Janet Yellen said, "There is a case for Fed to ease given the turmoil in Europe."
Among Asian markets, Hang Seng and Nikkei gained 1%. Kospi rose 2.7% while Shanghai and Taiwan Weighted were marginally higher.
Back home, Sterlite Industries, Tata Steel, Hindalco Industries, Infosys, Reliance Infrastructure, BHEL, Coal India, JP Associates.ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, L&T, Bharti and ITC were up.
Index heavyweight Reliance Industries moved up over 1% ahead of Annual General Meeting today at 11 am. Market experts expect some clarity over capex plan and buyback plan from the Mukesh Ambani.
However, TCS and GAIL were down 0.5% each.
The CNX Midcap Index rose 53 points to 6,999. About three shares advanced for every share falling on the National Stock Exchange.
In the second line shares, NCC, Lanco Infratech, GMR Infra, HCC, IRB Infrastructure climbed 1-4%.
Essar Oil, Titan Industries, Ashok Leyland and Voltas gained 1-1.5%.
Shree Renuka Sugars went up 3% and Edserv Softsystems jumped 5%.
West Coast Paper shot up nearly 5% after The Economic Times reported that the company will put newsprint arm on the block.
Punjab & Sind Bank surged 6% after sources said cabinet would consider recapitalisation of regional rural banks.
Realty stocks like Kolte Patil and Orbit Corporation were up 4-5%.
However, Kingfisher Airlines fell 3% on profit booking.
