Sensex's biggest close of 2012; up 439 pts on global rally

Indian equity benchmarks closed at a two-month high on Friday as global markets rallied quite sharply after European leaders, on first day at European Summit, have agreed to take emergency action to bring down Italy's and Spain's spiraling borrowing costs.

Another reason for rally: Key benchmarks outperformed to global peers on hopes of some reforms or policy decision coming by in near term as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh took charge of Finance Ministry.

Biggest closing gains for the Sensex in 2012

DATE	CLOSE	POINTS
29-Jun-12	17430	439.22
06-Jun-12	16454.3	433.66
03-Jan-12	15939.4	421.44
09-Mar-12	17503.2	357.72
15-Feb-12	18202.4	353.84
10-Jan-12	16165.1	350.37
30-Mar-12	17404.2	345.59
31-Jan-12	17193.6	330.25

 

 

 

 

 

The BSE benchmark gained 439.22 points (biggest closing gains in the year 2012) or 2.59% to close at 17,429.98 led by buying across sectors. Meanwhile, the NSE benchmark rose 129.75 points or 2.52% to 5,278.90.

France's CAC and Germany's DAX jumped 2% each while Britain's FTSE went up 1.3%. The Dow Jones futures climbed more than 1%, indicating positive opening of US markets today. Asian markets closed 1-2% higher.

European banks surged quite smartly as the 17 bloc nations agreed to create a single supervisory body for euro zone banks by the end of this year and to allow them to be recapitalized directly by the currency area's rescue fund without adding to government debt. Italy and Spain indices were up 3.5% and 2.5%, respectively.

Euro rose more than 1% to 1.26 against the US dollar.

Back home, the Indian rupee appreciated by 82 paise or 1.45% to 55.975 against the US dollar at 15:31 hours IST.

The BSE Capital Goods, Power, Bank and Metal indices were up around 3.5%. Auto, Realty, FMCG, Healthcare and Oil & Gas gained 1.5-2.5%.

Country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank spiked 5% while its rivals State Bank of India and HDFC Bank moved up 3% each.

Engineering and construction major by sales Larsen & Toubro jumped 4% while state-owned power equipment maker BHEL was up 5%.

Private power and steel producer Jindal Steel topped the buying list, rising 8.4%. Tata Power has been rising since Tuesday, which rose 6% today and more than 10% this week.

Shares of ITC, Reliance Industries and ONGC advanced 2.5-3%. Top software services exporters TCS and Infosys were up over 1%.

Country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki gained 4.6% on upgrade by brokerages. Among metals stocks, Hindalco Industries, Tata Steel and Sterlite Industries rose 3-5%.

However, Cairn India crashed 6% after sources said its parent company Cairn Energy PLC sold more than 6 crore shares of Indian unit. BPCL fell 1% as oil marketing companies reduced petrol price by Rs 2.46 a litre.

The BSE Midcap Index was up 1.6% and Smallcap up 1.3%. About two shares advanced for every share declining on the BSE.

In the second line shares, NCC, Lanco Infra and GMR Infra surged 7-13%. Sintex Industries, Indiabulls Real, PFC, REC, TVS Motor, IFCI, Zee Entertainment, DCB and Adani Power gained 4-7%.

However, OnMobile Global crashed 8% despite company denied reports of probe order against company's promoter and CEO Arvind Rao.

Manappuram Finance fell 2% on profit booking for second consecutive session after rising more than 38% in previous three sessions.

For the week, the BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty gained 2.7% each.

Commodities too witnessed buying interest due to rally in equities. Gold, silver and copper were up 1.5-2% while Brent and NYMEX crude gained 2.5-3%.

(With inputs from Reuters)