Sensex northbound; EIL, NMDC, STC most active

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Sensex remains firm; TCS, HDFC Bk, ICICI Bk, HDFC, SBI up
At 11:28 hours IST, buying in banking & financial, capital goods, technology, auto and select power stocks along with Bharti Airtel was helping the Sensex to move up further. However, selling continued in metal, realty, cement and select pharma stocks. Heavyweights like Reliance Industries, ONGC and NTPC were flat in trade.

The broader indices came off their highs; the BSE Midcap Index rose 0.5% and the Smallcap was up 0.88%. The market breadth was in favour of advances; about 1807 shares advanced while 1102 shares declined on the BSE. Nearly 200 shares were unchanged.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was trading at 17,671.51, up 117.21 points and the Nifty was at 5,279.45, up 27.25 points.

Banking and financial was the leading sector; HDFC, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra and SBI were up 1-3%. Axis Bank and PNB went up over 0.5%.

M&M, Hero Honda, Apollo Tyres, Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Auto and Bharat Forge gained 0.65-1.7% in the auto pack.

BHEL, Suzlon Energy, L&T and Siemens were up 0.6-1.1% in the capital goods space.

TCS, Wipro, HCL Tech and Tech Mahindra moved up 0.7-1.1% in the technology segment.

However, realty stocks like Indiabulls Real, DLF and Unitech fell 1-1.6%.

JSW Steel, Tata Steel, Jindal Steel, Sterlite Industries and SAIL declined 0.8-1.6% in the metal space.

Top percentage gainers - Bhartiya International, Wearology, Consolidated Securities and Parle Software shot up 20% each. Haryana Leather rose 19.59%. Chemfab Alkalies, Apcotex Industries, City Union Bank and Gujarat Flourochem were up 13.7-18.6%.

In the midcap space, Engineers India, Andrew Yule, Triveni Engg and UTV Software gained 7-9% while National Fertiliser, Dish TV India, State Bank of Bikaner, Peninsula Land and Madras Cements fell 2.4-4%.

In the smallcap space, Pratibha Industries, Prime Securities, Hindustan National Glass and Vinati Organics went up 8.5-11%. However, Richa Industries, Graviss Hosp, Escorts, Prraneta Industries and PVR lost 3.8-5%.

Nifty recovers; financials, technology, power lead

At 10:03 hours IST, the Nifty recovered early losses and was trading in the green amid choppiness. The recovery was led by banking and technology stocks. TCS remained the leader on the Nifty, gained 1.8% on strong set of numbers in Q3FY10.

Telecom, capital goods and power stocks were also the gainers while metal, realty, FMCG and select cement companies' shares were under pressure. Reliance Industries was also in the red.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was trading at 17,628.85, up 74.55 points and the Nifty was at 5,267.55, up 15.35 points. 

The broader indices were outperforming the benchmark indices; the BSE Midcap Index was up 0.6% and the Smallcap was up 1%. The market breadth was also positive; about 1830 shares advanced while 1074 shares declined on the BSE. Nearly 205 shares were unchanged.

In the largecaps, HDFC Bank, HDFC, TCS, ICICI Bank, SBI and Suzlon Energy gained 1.3-2.2% while Tata Steel, Sterlite Industries, Grasim, Tata Motors, Tata Power, Jindal Steel and Ambuja Cements fell 0.8-1.5%.

In the midcap space, Gujarat Flourochem, UTV Software, Andrew Yule, Engineers India and Atlas Copco were up 6.5-12.3% while Blue Dart, National Fertiliser, Dish TV India, Bombay Dyeing and J&K Bank lost 2-3.8%.

In the smallcap space, City Union Bank and Prime Securities went up 10.6% each. Pratibha Industries, Navin Fluorine and Henkel India gained 7.5-9.5%. However, Centrum Finance, Richa Industries, Graviss Hosp, Religare Tech and Escorts declined 3.8-5%.

Engineers India, ABG Shipyard, Infosys, Bharati Shipyard, TCS, ICICI Bank, Jindal Steel and Reliance Industries were most active shares on the bourses.

Sensex volatile with negative bias; TCS jumps 2% on nos

The Sensex started the day on a flat to negative note following weak global cues. Banking, oil & gas exploration, realty and select metal stocks were the losers in the early trade. However, select technology on good set of numbers from Infosys & TCS and power stocks were seeing buying interest.

At 9:04 am, the Nifty was trading at 5,240, down 11 points and the Sensex was at 17,533, down 22 points. However, the CNX Midcap was up just 8 points at 7,804. About 389 shares advanced while 415 shares declined on the NSE.

Among the frontliners, Sterlite, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Unitech, DLF, PNB, Reliance Industries, Infosys and ONGC were the losers in trade.

However, TCS surged 2% post better-than-expected numbers. India's largest IT exporter's net profit jumped 10.7% to Rs 1,797 crore and revenue went up 2.9% to Rs 7,650 crore in third quarter. 

Wipro was up 1.4% ahead of numbers this week. Reliance Power, BHEL and NTPC were the other gainers. Jaiprakash Associates gained ahead of numbers today.

Midcap & Smallcap space:

Ultratech Cement fell 2.8% on disappointing set of numbers.

DCB lost 2.5%. ABG Shipyard was down 1% and Great Offshore down 0.5%.

FAME India fell 4% and Inox Leisure lost 2% on profit booking.

However, Engineers India shot up 12%, the stock had witnessed strong rally in the last week on FPO news.

City Union Bank gained 6%. Shriram Transport was up 0.4% on good set of numbers.

Global cues:

Asian markets were trading higher. Nikkei tumbled 1.8%. Hang Seng was down 0.9%. Kospi and Taiwan were down 0.3-0.4%. Jakarta and Shanghai were marginally in the red.

The US markets witnessed their worst loss in four weeks on JPMorgan results. The CRB Index was down over 1%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 101 points or 0.94% at 10,610; it was down 0.08% for week while up 1.74% YTD (year-to-date). The Nasdaq Composite was down 29 points or 1.24% at 2,288. It was down 1.26% for week while up 0.8% YTD.

The S&P 500 was down 12.5 points or 1.08% at 1,136. It was down 0.78% for week while up 1.9% YTD. US Banking Index was down over 2% post weakness in JPMorgan, worst percentage loss in one month.

Commodity

CRB Commodity Index was down 1.1%.

February crude oil was down 1.8% at $77.95/bbl. It declined for the fifth consecutive session.

IAE held 2010 projections for world oil demand virtually unchanged from their December forecast of 1.7%.

February gold was down 1% at $1131/ounce.

March silver was down 1.2% at $18.44/ounce.

Market cues:

-FIIs net sell USD 30 million on January 14
-MFs net buy Rs 193 crore in cash on January 14
-Total F&O Open Interest Up by Rs 3,172 crore at Rs 1,09,140 crore
-FIIs net sell Rs 930 crore in cash mkt (prov) on January 15
-FIIs net buy Rs 710 crore in F&O mkt (prov) on January 15
-DIIs net buy Rs 681 crore in cash mkt (prov) on January 15