Nifty at 3-week high, hits 5600; IT, infra, banks, oil & gas support

The benchmark Nifty has touched the 5600 mark - an important psychological level - for the first time in last three weeks on the back of positive global cues. European markets too started the trade in a positive terrain, taking cues from US and Asian markets.

All sectoral indices were leading the markets higher - the IT Index was on the front foot, with gaining more than 3% on the back of likely improvement in US economy and good earning expectations for the quarter ended March 2011. IT bellwether Infosys surges 4.3% followed by TCS, Wipro and HCL Tech, with gaining 2.5-3.5%. Capital Goods, Oil & Gas, Bank, Power, FMCG and Realty indices were other indices, with rising 1-2%. The way markets showing confidence for the fourth consecutive session, it seems that it factored in rising crude oil, Middle East & North Africa tensions, and inflation worries. Brent crude also looked stabilised around USD 115-116 a barrel.  Manoj Singla, MD & Co- Head Product, Religare Capital Markets feels that crude at USD 115/barrel is priced into the market. "We are looking at 20-25% upside on frontline indices," he said. However, market will come off if crude rises further, according to him. The 30-share BSE Sensex gained 18,707, up 356 points and the 50-share NSE Nifty was trading at 5,623, up 101 points - above the 200-DMA. Heavyweights NTPC, ICICI Bank, L&T and HDFC Bank rallied around 2.5%. Among others, Reliance Industries, ONGC, ITC, HDFC, Bharti Airtel, BHEL and Tata Motors were up 1-2%. Realty major DLF surged 4.5%. However, only GAIL and Ranbaxy Labs were in red on the Nifty. In midcap space, Va Tech Wabag, Cox & Kings, Usha Martin, Financial Tech and Sterlite Tech shot up 5-12% while Prestige Estate, KGN Industries, Shree Global, Jubilant Life and Techno Electric slipped 4-5%. In smallcap space, Thomas Cook, Kiri Dyes Chemical, Asian Hotel (W), Commercial Engg and BS TransComm rallied 10-17%. However, Dion Global, Ushdev Intl, Century Plyboard, R M Mohite and Fame India lost 5-9%. About 921 shares advanced as against 346 shares declined on the National Stock Exchange. On the global front, US index futures and European markets were trading with moderate gains. Asian markets closed one percent higher. _PAGEBREAK_ Sensex surges led by Infosys, TCS, Wipro, L&T, NTPC, HDFC Bank The benchmark Sensex added nearly 200 points in trade today at 12 hours, supported by heavyweights like Infosys, TCS, Wipro, L&T, NTPC, ONGC, ITC, HDFC, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Bharti Airtel. However, indices were seeing some profit booking at higher levels. Most of the negatives were already there in the price, says Abhijit Chakraborty, Fortune Financial. "The recent firmness in the market is because on ground the corporate earnings, for this quarter, are looking up for some of the sectors which have not done too well in the past. Large sectors like banking, which contributes about 23-24% of the Nifty weightage, are likely to see improvement in earnings because of high credit growth. The NIMs could be also maintained at this level," he explained. However on the upside, he said, the cap would definitely be there because of the high oil prices and the fear of interest rate hikes as inflation is not showing signs of moderating soon. "RBI policies will be watched. There is a likelihood that interest rates would go up. Oil and interest rates are the reasons that could keep the market capped around 5,650-5,700." The 30-share BSE Sensex gained 182 points at 18,532 and the 50-share NSE Nifty went up 52 points to 5,574. The Nifty April futures were trading at 15 points premium. Asian markets remained in a positive terrain on rally in US markets yesterday, which was quite supportive for Indian markets. Shanghai, Hang Seng, Nikkei, Straits Times and Kospi were up around 1%. Taiwan gained just 0.4%. Among largecaps, Infosys, Wipro, L&T, DLF, TCS and Axis Bank were the top gainers on exchanges, with gaining 2-3%. However, Cipla, Maruti Suzuki, GAIL, Ranbaxy Labs, Power Grid Corp and Siemens were only top losers. Lovable Lingerie, Tata Coffee, Fineotex Chemical, LIC Housing Finance, Infosys, ICICI Bank, L&T and SBI were the most active shares on exchanges. In midcap space, Financial Tech, KEC International, JSL Stainless, Usha Martin and Raymond rallied 5-6% while Shree Global, KGN Industries, Prestige Estate, Techno Electric and Indian Metals lost 3-5%. In smallcap space, Kiri Dyes Chemical, Commercial Engg, BS TransComm, Zenith Infotech and Ingersoll Rand jumped 8-12%. However, Dion Global, Asian Star, Fame India, R M Mohite and Venus Remedies slipped 5-10%. About 1605 shares advanced as against 1021 shares declined on the Bombay Stock Exchange. _PAGEBREAK_ IT, private banks, infra push Sensex higher The benchmark Nifty continued its upmove for the fourth consecutive session today and was marching up towards the 5600 mark, aided a support from technology, infrastructure, FMCG, metal, financial and realty companies' shares. Heavyweights Reliance Industries, ONGC and Bharti Airtel too were quite supportive with moderate gains. Indian markets have been taking cues from global markets. Asian markets were trading 0.5-1% higher and the US markets ended up 0.7-1.4% on Thursday on good earnings expectations and on hopes of economic recovery. Even the London Brent crude has been stabilised around USD 115-116 a barrel and the NYMEX crude at around USD 104-105 a barrel. Manoj Singla, managing director and co-head (product) at Religare Capital Markets said crude oil prices need to come down for a sustainable market rally.