Sensex surges after quiet start; RIL, ICICI Bank, Infosys, BHEL lead

Indian equity benchmarks climbed higher after quiet opening, with the Sensex gaining nearly 200 points at 10:16 hours, supported by 28 stocks out of 30. Financial, infrastructure, oil & gas, metal, FMCG, cement and select technology companies' shares were pushing the markets higher.

Aditya Narain of Citi expects to see further upside in the market with their Sensex target for December at 22,000 with a more aggressive portfolio/market mix, moderately better macro situation, slightly higher valuations and a bias towards large caps over midcaps.

"India has actually outperformed most equity indices over 2008 and it is currently a cheaper and more defensive market than in its heyday," he said.

The 30-share BSE Sensex gained 175 points at 18,164 and the 50-share NSE Nifty was trading at 5,466, with rising another 53 points after yesterday's positive trade.

Market breadth too was looking strong; about 850 shares advanced as against 321 shares declined on National Stock Exchange.

Even the Japan's Nikkei 225 average recovered a bit from day's low, with down just 0.8%. Among other Asian markets, Shanghai, Straits Times, Kospi and Taiwan were up 0.3-0.8%.

ICICI Bank was the leading stock, with gaining over 2%. Among other largecaps, Reliance Industries, Infosys, BHEL, ONGC, ITC, Bharti, HDFC Banbk, NTPC, L&T, SBI and HUL were up 0.5-1.5%.

Cipla, Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy's Labs and Ranbaxy Labs from healthcare space gained 1-2%. SAIL, Sterlite, Hindalco, Sesa Goa and Hindalco from metal space went up 0.5-2%.

However, TCS, M&M, BPCL, JSPL, Siemens and Reliance Capital were only losers on Nifty 50.

In midcap space, Hathway Cable, Prestige Estate, Bajaj Corp, HOEC and WABCO-TVS gained 3-8% while KGN Industries, Peninsula Land, Shree Global, Escorts and Sunteck Realty lost 2-5%.

In smallcap space, Dion Global, India Glycols, Zee Learn, AP Paper Mills and Rollatainers jumped 9-20%. However, Sahara One, Newtime Infra, Commercial Engg, Bheema Cements and Gulf Oil Corp slipped 3-6%.

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Nifty quiet on mixed global cues; SBI, TCS dip

Indian equity benchmarks were quiet in opening trade despite spike in crude oil prices, tracking mixed global cues. It seems that markets have discounted rising oil prices due to tensions in Middle East & North Africa.

Among frontliners, Ranbaxy Labs, ICICI Bank, Cipla, Ranbaxy Labs, Sun Pharma, SAIL, Sterlite Industries, Hero Honda, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Bharti Airtel were witnessing buying interest.

However, BPCL, TCS, ONGC, Reliance Industries, Tata Motors, ITC, Wipro, SBI, L&T, Maruti Suzuki, M&M and Axis Bank were under selling pressure in early trade.

At 9:18 hours IST, the 50-share NSE Nifty fell just 3 points to 5,410 and the 30-share BSE Sensex declined 12 points to 17,976.

About 485 shares advanced as against 321 shares declined on National Stock Exchange.

Midcap & Smallcap space:

Shree Renuka Sugars, Bajaj Hindusthan and Balrampur Chini shot up 2-3%. Triveni Engg, Saikshti Oudh Sugar 7-11%

Fame India was up another 3% today.

BILT, Welspun India, HCC and Brandhouse Retail were up 1%.

However, Neyveli Lignite was down 2.5% and DB Realty down 1%.

Global cues:

Asian markets were mixed in trade. Shanghai, Straits Times, Kospi and Taiwan Weighted were up 0.2-0.8%.

However, Nikkei declined 1% after earthquake measuring 6 on richter scale hits north Japan again. But there was no damage reported post quake yet.

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The US markets ended almost flat amid low volumes and volatility. Crude jumped 2% on back of Libyan concerns.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 18 points at 12,018. The NASDAQ Composite was down 8 points at 2,684 and the S&P 500 Index fell 5 points at 1,293.

London Brent crude was trading around USD 116 a barrel and NYMEX crude was around USD 105 a barrel.

There was more protest in Yemen & Syria, and renewed tensions at the Israel-Gaza border.

Commodities

Crude oil went up 1.9% at USD 105.04/barrel on back of continued unrest in the Middle East

April natural gas contract gained 2.1% at USD 4.25 per MMBtu, higher for the third time in four sessions

April gold contract ended marginally higher at USD 1427.6/ounce

May silver contract was up 1% at USD 36.26/ ounce

Sugar and coffee were down 1.3%