Sensex up 100 pts; Maruti, HUL, BPCL underperform

ALSO READ See Key Market Stats - Top Gainers/ Losers, Most Actives, Highs/Lows See how Global Markets are trading Indian ADRs Nifty BSE | NSE 31/05/12 Are Mutual Funds betting on Nifty?

Sensex up 150 pts; metals, pharma, cap goods, banks gain

At 11:51 hours IST, the 50-share NSE Nifty strengthened further on the back of smart rally in Asian markets. Shanghai and Hang Seng jumped 1.5% each. Jakarta rose 2.3%. Kospi and Taiwan went up 1.9% each. Straits Times and Nikkei gained around 0.9% and 1.2%, respectively.

Rally was led by buying across all the sectors; metal, capital goods, pharma, realty, power, banking, IT and oil & gas indices were up 0.7-1.4%. The broader indices also gained 0.66% each.

The Sensex was trading at 17531, up 148 points and the Nifty was at 5245, up 47 points.

Top gainers in the largecaps - Reliance Infrastructure was trading at Rs 1,012.50, up 2.08%; Tata Steel was at Rs 640, up 2.05%; Sun Pharma was at Rs 1,697.70, up 1.80%; DLF was at Rs 317.80, up 1.74%; Hindalco was at Rs 172.50, up 1.71%; Idea Cellular was at Rs 64.20, up 2.97%; Cipla was at Rs 327.20, up 2.96%; ABB was at Rs 865.60, up 2.18% and SAIL was at Rs 241.45, up 2.16%.

However, following were the only losers on the NSE Nifty. HUL was down 1.35%. M&M, BPCL and Cairn India were other losers.

In the midcap space, Sterlite Tech, Triveni Engg, Nava Bharat Venture, STC India and GVK Power gained 3.5-5% while REI Six Ten, Coromandel International, Bannariamman, Balrampur Chini and KS Oils were down 1.9-3.4%.

In the smallcap space, Zylog Systems (most active), J Kumar Infra, Graviss Hospital, Gulf Oil Corp and KPIT Cummins were up 6-9.5%. However, Subhkam Capital, Prraneta Ind, Gemini Comm, Maharashtra Elektrosmelt and Richa Ind slipped 4-5%.

Stocks in news

TCS said fourth quarter of FY10 would be significantly stronger than last quarter. "Large deals are making a come back and we expect significant growth from deals signed this quarter," the company says. The stock gained 1.44%.

Birla Power Solutions went up 2.8%, as the company will consider fund raising plan on March 25.

Steel Strips Wheels has received 5-year order for supplying 3 lakh wheel rims from Renault. The stock rose 4.4%.

L&T moved up 1.4%. The company has bagged order worth Rs 1,000 crore from ONGC.

Subhash Projects has received order worth Rs 439 crore. The stock rose 1.4%.

Nifty hits 5250; MSK Proj, ARSS Infra most active

At 10:35 hours IST - the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading higher on the back of buying interest across all sectors barring few stocks like HUL, Tata Motors, M&M, HDFC Bank, BPCL and Ranbaxy Labs. The Nifty has touched the 5250 level as well.

Metal, telecom, power, oil & gas exploration, realty, select capital goods and technology were leading sectors in trade.

Asian markets were quite supportive today. Hang Seng rose 1.5% and Jakarta was up 2%. Kospi and Straits Times gained 1.2% each. Shanghai, Nikkei and Straits Times went up 0.5-0.8%.

The Sensex was trading at 17557, up 174 points and the Nifty was at 5257, up 55 points. The Nifty March future was trading with 11 points premium.

The market breadth was positive; about 1801 shares advanced while 1046 shares declined on the BSE. Nearly 345 shares were unchanged.

MSK Projects, ARSS Infrastructure, Hindustan Copper, Jai Corp, Tata Steel, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and Educomp Solutions were the most active shares on the bourses.

MSK Project rose 4%, as there was a block deal of 31 lakh shares on BSE at Rs 130.50/share (14.99% equity change hands).

Top percentage gainers - Rossell Tea and Coromandel Engg were locked at 20% upper circuit each.

In the midcap space, STC India, Jai Corp, Hotel Leela, HMT and State Bank Mysore gained 2.8-4.4% while Asian Star, Allcargo Global, Balrampur Chini, Shree Renuka and Tulip Telecom fell 1.6-3%.

In the smallcap space, Graviss Hospital, Gulf Oil Corp, J Kumar Infra, Kwality Dairy and Thinksoft went up 5-8% while Subhkam Capital, Prraneta Ind, Vindhya Telelink, Sulzer and Maharashtra Polybutenes lost 3-5%.

Nifty above 5200 on global cues: RIL, ICICI Bank up

The benchmark Nifty opened the day on a strong note and continued Tuesday's upmove further. Buying was seen across all the sectors, but that was not aggresive. Heavyweights like Reliance, ICICI Bank, Bharti, L&T, HDFC and DLF were leading scrips.

At 9:02 hours IST, the Nifty was trading at 5229, up 31 points and the Sensex was at 17487, up 104 points. 

The CNX Midcap gained 56 points at 7575 and the BSE Smallcap was up 43 points at 8512. About 634 shares advanced while 95 shares declined on the NSE.

Among the frontliners, DLF, ABB, Reliance Communications, Reliance Industries, Suzlon Energy, Idea Cellular, Jaiprakash Associates, L&T, Reliance Infrastructure, Reliance Capital, Hindalco, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank were gainers in the early trade.

However, BPCL and ITC were marginally weak.

Midcap & Smallcap space:

Hotel Leela and Indian Hotel were up 1.7-2.5%.

Neyveli Lignite gained 3%, the company is set to replace REC loan with cheaper loan from Bank of Baroda.

GMR Infra and Punj Lloyd went up 1.5%.

Ashok Leyland gained 2%.

However, Apollo Tyres was down 0.7% and NMDC lost 0.5%.

Balrampur Chini and Shree Renuka Sugar were down over 1%.

Global cues:

Asian markets were trading higher. Kospi and Taiwan Weighted gained 1% each. Shanghai and Hang Seng went up 0.8% each. Jakarta rallied 2%. Nikkei was up 0.7% and Straits Times up 0.3%.

The US markets lifted on Fed's commitment for low interest rates and as concerns over Greece abate. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained for 6 straight sessions and S&P at 17-month high.

The Dow Jones rose 0.4% to 10,686. The S&P 500 gained 0.8% at 1,159.5 and Nasdaq added 0.7% at 2,378.

Commodities

Crude gained 3% at USD 82/barrel (Was below USD 80 on Monday).

Alert - OPEC meeting today, likely to keep production targets.

CRB index was up 1%.

Gold went up 1.5%

Market cues:

FIIs were net buyers to the tune of USD 85.5 million in equities on March 14, as per data available on the SEBI website.

NSE F&O Open Interest was up by Rs 2,679 crore at Rs 1,22,705 crore.

FIIs were net buyers to the tune of Rs 378 crore while DIIs net sellers of Rs 159 crore in cash markets on March 16, as per provisional data available on the NSE website. FIIs net bought  Rs 709 crore in F&O.

FIIs in F&O

FIIs net sold Rs 375 crore in Nifty futures on March 16 and Open Interest was up by 12,086 contracts.

FIIs net bought Rs 946 crore in Nifty options on March 16 and Open Interest was by 71,075 contracts.

F&O cues:

Futures' Open Interest was up by Rs 1450 crore while Options Open Interest up by Rs 1,229 crore.

The Nifty March Futures shed 8.5 lakh shares in Open Interest and ended at 6-point premium.

The Nifty April Futures added 10 lakh shares in Open Interest and closed at 4-point premium.

Nifty Open Interest PCR increased to 1.56 versus 1.51.

Nifty Puts added 22 lakh shares while Calls shed 3 lakh shares in Open Interest

Nifty 5200 Put added 19 lakh shares in Open Interest

Nifty 4900 Put shed 6 lakh shares in Open Interest

Nifty 5100 Call shed 10 lakh shares in Open Interest

Stock Futures added 2.4 crore shares in Open Interest.