Auto, banks, cap goods drive Sensex higher

Indian equity benchmarks rallied further on the back of consistent buying almost in all sectors barring technology at 11:32 hours. The Sensex gained more than 300 points and the Nifty added around 100 points in trade today, which were outperforming the Asian markets.

Auto was the leading sector, climbing nearly 4% on the back of good monthly sales numbers. M&M, Bajaj Auto, Maruti, Hero Honda, TVS Motor and Tata Motors shot up 2-5%. Maruti Suzuki sold 1.11 lakh units in the month of February as against 96,650 in same period the previous year. TVS Motor sold 1.73 lakh total 2-wheelers in February versus 1.40 lakh (YoY).

The BSE Bankex and Capital Goods indices went up around 2.5%. Among other indices, Metal, FMCG, Realty, Power, Healthcare and Oil & Gas indices were up 1-1.5%.

The 30-share BSE Sensex surged 348 points to 18,172 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 107 points at 5,440.

In the financial space, SBI, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC and PNB rallied 2-3%. DLF from realty pack moved up over 2%.

Heavyweights Reliance Industries and NTPC were up 2% & 3%, respectively. L&T and BHEL from capital goods space surged 2.5% each.

SAIL, Hindalco, Sterlite, Hindalco and Jindal Steel from metal segment were up 1-2%. HUL, Infosys and ITC jumped 1.5-2%. However, Bharti Airtel, Wipro, TCS and Dr Reddy's Labs were the only losers on Nifty.

The broader indices were up 1.3-1.7%. About 998 shares advanced as against 252 shares declined on National Stock Exchange.

In midcap space, Gujarat Gas, Havells India, Glenmark, TVS Motor and Triveni Engg were up 6-8% while Shoppers Stop, Godfrey Phillip, Sintex India, EIH and Bajaj Corp were down 1.6-3%.

In smallcap space, KRBL, Asian Hotel (W), Rohit Ferro, Smartlink Network and Indian Hume Pipes gained 9-14% whereas Surana Inds, Emami Paper, Parenteral Drug, Ontrack Systems and Bheema Cements lost 5-6%.

Asian markets too were trading higher - Nikkei, Straits Times and Taiwan went up 1-1.6%. Shanghai was up nearly 0.7%.

_PAGEBREAK_

Nifty above 5400; infra, financials, auto lead

The benchmark Sensex added more than 200 points to trade above the 18,000-mark at 10:16 hours, supported by financial, infrastructure, oil & gas, auto, FMCG, metal and realty companies' shares.

The Nifty was trading above the 5400 level. However, technical set up remains weak for markets, says Gautam Shah of JM Financial. "The Nifty has been stuck in range of 5250-5550 level." He feels that the nifty will have to be at 5600 to confirm end of downtrend.

ITC was the leader today as well with 2.3% gain. Heavyweights Reliance Industries and ONGC gained 0.9% each. L&T and BHEL from capital goods space jumped nearly 2%.

SBI, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC, HDFC Bank, PNB and Kotak Mahindra Bank from financial space were up 1-3%. Tata Motors from auto pack rallied 3% after yesterday's sell-off; M&M, Bajaj Auto, Hero Honda and Maruti jumped 2-3.5%.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was trading at 18,049, up 226 points and the 50-share NSE Nifty went up 67 points to 5,401. About three shares advanced as against one share declined on National Stock Exchange.

All sectoral indices were in green. The broader indices too were on uptrend; the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices went up over one percent.

However, Bharti Airtel, TCS, Wipro, Reliance Communications, Tata Power and Reliance Capital slipped 0.5-1.5%.

SBI, Reliance Capital, Godrej Properties, Reliance Infrastructure, Mphasis, ITC, Tata Motors, LIC Housing Finance and ICICI Bank were the most active shares on exchanges.

In midcap space, Glenmark, Gujarat Gas, TVS Motor, Triveni Engg and Shriram City gained 5-7% while KGN Industries, EIH, Shoppers Stop, Rei Agro and IBN18 Broadcast lost 2-4%.

In smallcap space, Rohit Ferro, Asian Hotel (W), Smartlink Network, Shirpur Gold and Zenith Infotech rallied 8-11% whereas Dion Global, Asian Star, Parenteral Drug, Bheema Cements and Ontrack Systems lost 4-7%.

_PAGEBREAK_

Sensex hits 18K on positive global cues

The benchmark Nifty started the first session of March month on a strong note, supported by positive global cues. It seems that budget euphoria is over for the time being and markets linked with global picture. The Sensex was hovering around the 18,000-mark while the Nifty around the 5400 level.

About 5.5 shares advanced on the Nifty as against one share declined. Oil & gas, banking, infrastructure, auto, FMCG, metal and healthcare companies' shares were quite supportive while select technology stocks fell.

Among frontliners, Tata Motors, Reliance Capital, ACC, M&M, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, L&T, BPCL, BHEL, Reliance Industries and ITC were on buyers' radar.

However, the sell-off was seen in Bharti, Sesa Goa, Dr Reddy's Labs.

At 9:17 hours IST, the 50-share NSE Nifty was trading at 5,381, up 48 points and the 30-share NSE Nifty jumped 163 points to 17,986.

About 608 shares advanced as against 233 shares declined on National Stock Exchange.

Midcap & Smallcap space:

IRB Infra, Jain Irrigation and IVRCL Infra were up 2-4%. Punj Lloyd gained over 1%.

Glenmark Pharma shot up 6%. NIIT went up 2%.

RPP Infra surged 9% as it has bagged order worth Rs 1,500 crore.

However, Coal India fell 1% on profit booking. It has rallied sharply on increase in coal prices.

Pantaloon Retail was down 1% and Brandhouse Retail down 6%.

Global cues:

Asian markets were trading higher. Shanghai and Nikkei gained 0.6%. Straits Times and Taiwan were up over 1%.

The US markets witnessed sixth straight monthly gain for both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, and the third straight monthly gain for the Dow Jones.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 96 points at 12,226. The Nasdaq Composite was up 1.2 points at 2,782 and S&P 500 index rose 7 points at 1,327 on Monday.

Commodities

April crude oil contract went down 0.9% at USD 96.97/barrel post reports that Saudi Arabia will make up for any oil supply disruption

April natural gas contract went up 0.9% at USD 4.04 per MMBtu

March silver jumped 2.5% at USD 33.80 per ounce

April gold finished near flat at USD 1409.90 per ounce

May cotton contract was up 3.8% at USD 1.91 per pound

F&O cues:

Total Futures Open Int up Rs 2319 crore, Total Options Open Int up Rs 4515 crore

Total stock futures Open Int down by 59 lakh crore

Futures Open Int up by 10.3 lakh crore, prem at 5 pts versus prem of 10 pts

Nifty Open Int PCR down at 1.22 versus 1.28

Total Put add 27.8 lakh crore, call add 45.5 lakh shares

Highest Open Int outstanding at 5300 Put, 5200 put (from 5000 put), 5000 put, 5500 call

Nifty 5600 call adds 11.5 lakh shares in Open Int

Nifty 5300 put adds 7.6 lakh shares in Open Int

Nifty 5700 call adds 5.13 lakh shares in Open Int

Nifty 5200 Put adds 4.6 lakh shares in Open Int

Nifty 5400 Call adds 4.4 lakh shares in Open Int

Nifty 5900 Call adds 4.4 lakh shares in Open Int

Nifty 5300 Call adds 4.2 lakh shares in Open Int