Sensex up 265 pts, Nifty ends above 8500; Tata Motors leads

Moneycontrol Bureau

After a consolidation, the market staged strong performance Wednesday with the equity benchmarks rising nearly 1 percent, lifted by auto and technology stocks. Index heavyweights HDFC and Reliance Industries also supported the rally.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 265.39 points or 0.95 percent to close at 28198.29 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 69.70 points or 0.82 percent at 8523.80. The broader markets underperformed benchmarks, rising marginally. About 1536 shares advanced against 1287 shares declined on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Experts believe the market is likely to add few more points in near term as it surpassed 8500 level on the Nifty.

The easing Greece standoff, US Federal Reserve's dovish stance have all contributed to the recent bounceback seen in the Nifty, said Dhananjay Sinha, head-institutional research, Emkay Global Financial Services.

As far as Q1 is concerned, the earnings season is likely to be sub-par with a decline in profit after tax (PAT) to the tune of seven percent, he said.

On the global front, European markets remained flat ahead of Greek parliamentary vote on a raft of reform measures that could secure the country another bailout. The deal requires parliament to ratify four measures related to tax, pension and budget reforms in order to trigger a vote from six other national parliaments throughout the euro zone. Asian markets closed mixed with the Shanghai falling 3 percent and Nikkei gaining 0.4 percent.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a National Skill Mission today which is aimed at developing skills and promoting entrepreneurship among youth.

Monsoon slowed down to 33 percent below normal in July, said DS Pai of IMD. He expects it to pick up only post July 23. Weak monsoon has hurt sowing in part of Gujarat, Maharasthra and northern part of Karnataka, said Pai.

Among stocks, car maker Maruti Suzuki topped the buying list on Sensex, up 2.6 percent to end at record closing high of 4,155 after foreign brokerage Credit Suisse raised target price to Rs 5,100 on hopes of strong volume growth going ahead. Central government's 7th pay commission and likely addition to MSCI index will be key drivers for the stock.

Tata Motors rebounded quite sharply in late morning trade to close at Rs 394.30, up 2.2 percent after seeing 4 percent loss in previous session. The stock opened lower today after luxury car maker Jaguar Land Rover's retail sales remained flat at 39,602 units in June on yearly basis.

In earnings, Zee Entertainment's Q1 profit beat estimates, rising 15.8 percent aided by higher topline & other income. Advertising revenue growth stood at 25 percent, a big surprise. The stock gained 0.3 percent.

Larsen and Toubro rose 0.6 percent as brokerage CLSA has reiterated its buy rating on the stock and raised target price to Rs 2,275 from Rs 2,100 to factor in defence, nuclear and aerospace (DNA) orders. L&T is the best proxy to a domestic capex revival (domestic orders up 52 percent Y-o-Y in Q4FY15), value creation through divestments, realty monetisation and a play on expansion in its DNA portfolio. It expects a pickup in earnings per share growth to 26 percent (FY15-17CL) to support valuations, said the brokerage.

Among others, HDFC, TCS, Reliance Industries, Infosys, Lupin, M&M, Sun Pharma, Wipro and Bajaj Auto added 1-2 percent. However, Tata Steel and SBI were the only losers among Sensex 30, closing marginally lower.