RIL plays saviour, Sensex gains 150 points at close

The 4% rally in Reliance Industries' share price finally helped Equity benchmarks recoup all its losses. RIL's recovery, in turn, was led by confidence expressed by British Petroleum. Short covering in European markets post deep cut yesterday too improved sentiments. The 30-share BSE Sensex recovered from yesterday's loss - rose 149.48 points to close at 16,862.81 and the 50-share NSE Nifty jumped 47.10 points to end at 5,064.30.

Looking at the market's resilience over the last two or three sessions, Mehraboon Irani of Nirmal Bang Securities said it may try to go up  to 5,100 or even 5,200 level. According to him, however, 4,700 is a good stoploss. On the global front, Britain's FTSE gained more than 1%. Among other European markets, France's CAC and Germany's DAX went up 0.5% each. Some Asian markets too showed recovery in late trade - Hang Seng gained 0.5%; Straits Times and Shanghai closed flat. On the home turf, heavyweight Reliance Industries surged 4% as country head of BP said he was confident of increasing gas production from KG D6. BP took 30% stake in RIL's 21 oil and gas blocks for USD 7.2 billion. "We will set up gas JV with RIL in 2 months. JV will import and sell gas in Indian markets," he said. Announcement of FPO did not impact ONGC negatively. Generally FPO announcements have met with negative investor sentiments, but this time the stock may have priced in the news's negativity yesterday itself. The company's 42.8-crore shares FPO will open for subscription during September 20-23, 2011. Today the stock gained 1.56%. Technology, capital goods, cement, private banks, metal and select auto (only 4-wheeler) stocks helped the bounce back. However, the sell-off in Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG), power, telecom and realty stocks has limited the upside. Largecaps like BHEL, Infosys, SAIL, JSPL, L&T, Sterlite, Tata Motors and Maruti closed up 1.5-3%. Ambuja Cements was the biggest gainer; the stock shot up 5%. TCS, HDFC, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank were up over 0.5%. However, Bharti, NTPC and SBI fell 1-2%. DLF remained top loser; stock lost 4%. ADAG stocks like Reliance Power, Reliance Communications, Reliance Capital and Reliance Infrastructure slipped 1.5-2%. Midcaps like Hexaware Tech, Educomp Solutions, Polaris, Amtek Auto and GSFC rallied 6-8%. However, HDIL, TV18 Broadcast, Dewan Housing, Federal Bank and HT Media dropped 3%. Everonn Education continued its downtrend for third consecutive session today. The stock locked at 10% lower circuit after 40% fall in previous two days. About 830 shares advanced while 591 shares declined on NSE. Total traded turnover was more than Rs 1.25 lakh crore. _PAGEBREAK_ At 14:40 hours IST : Reliance lifts Nifty above 5050; European markets up 1% Indian equity benchmarks gained further led by heavyweight Reliance Industries, which shot up 4%. The 30-share BSE Sensex was trading at 16,847, up 134 points and the 50-share NSE Nifty jumped 42 points to 5,059. Country head of BP said he was confident of increasing gas production from KG D6. BP took 30% stake in RIL's 21 oil and gas blocks. "We will set up gas JV with RIL in 2 months. JV will import and sell gas in Indian markets," he said. Biggest gainer on Nifty was Ambuja Cements, which rallied 5%. M&M, JSPL and Jaiprakash Associates were other top gainers; these stocks surged over 3%. Largecap stocks  like ONGC, TCS, BHEL, Wipro, L&T, Infosys, Tata Motors, Maruti, SAIL and Axis Bank jumped 1-2%. However, SBI, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, Power Grid, Bajaj Auto, Reliance Power and Grasim were still down 1.5-2%. NTPC and ICICI Bank fell over 0.5%. DLF lost 4%, though it showed some recovery from the day's low. Market breadth too turned in favour of advances; 738 shares gained while 534 shares declined. Even European markets were quite supportive; France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE went up 1% each. At 12:43 hours IST : Oil & gas, tech, capital goods push Sensex in green The market bounced back in the afternoon trade led by oil & gas, technology, capital goods and auto (four-wheeler) stocks. European markets, which lost 3.5-5% yesterday, too gained further on the back of short covering; France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE were up over 1%. The 30-share BSE Sensex was trading at 16,753, up 39 points and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 13 points to 5,029. But the market breadth was in favour of declines; about 616 shares gained while 784 shares dropped. Reliance Industries recovered all its losses and gained over 2%. ONGC too rose nearly 2%. In the technology space, TCS, HCL Tech and Wipro were up 1-2%; Infosys went up 0.5%. M&M, Tata Motors and Maruti from auto pack rallied 2-3%. BHEL, HDFC Bank, HDFC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, L&T, Axis Bank, SAIL and Hindalco were other gainers. However, SBI, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, Sun Pharma, Power Grid, Reliance Power, Grasim, Reliance Communications, Reliance Capital and Reliance Infrastructure were down 1-2%, though these stocks showed some recovery from day's low. At 12:48 hours IST : RIL, BHEL, ONGC lead Nifty's partial recovery The Sensex and the Nifty recovered more than half of their losses following mild bounce back in European markets. But the 50-share NSE Nifty was still struggling to get back above the 5,000 mark due to consistent sell-off in financial, PSU power, FMCG, realty and select technology companies' shares. The index was trading 27 points lower at 4,989 and the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading down 86 points at 16,627. However, the broader indices were flat. The recovery was led by heavyweight Reliance Industries; the stock gained nearly 1%. Even BHEL, L&T and Wipro got back into green. However, SBI, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, Sun Pharma, Power Grid, Reliance Infrastructure, Grasim, Reliance Power and Reliance Communications lost 2-3%. DLF remained its top position in the selling list; the stock tumbled nearly 6%. ITC, TCS, Infosys, HDFC and NTPC were down over 0.5%. Midcaps like SKS Microfinance, GSFC, Motherson Sumi, Amtek Auto and Polaris surged 4-5%. However, HDIL, MTNL, Indiabulls Real, SpiceJet and IFCI tanked 3.5-5%. At 11:57 hours IST : Sensex falls nearly 200 pts; DLF, RComm, R Infra top losers Investors continued to book profits for the second consecutive session today as global cues remained weak. The sell-off in telecom, technology, financial, realty and select infrastructure stocks weighed on the market. The 30-share BSE Sensex was trading at 16,528, down 185 points and the 50-share NSE Nifty was trading at 4,957, down 60 points .  In the largecap space, DLF was the biggest loser after government approved Land Acquisition bill yesterday; the stock tumbled 6%. Sun Pharma, SBI, Bharti Airtel, Jaiprakash Associates, Reliance Communications, Reliance Infrastructure and Reliance Capital lost 2-4%. However, M&M surged over 2% as company raised prices by up to 2% across all models in August. Jindal Steel, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, ONGC and Ambuja Cements were up 0.7-2%. India Securities, GSK Consumer, SBI, BF Utilities, Tata Coffee, M&M, ICICI Bank, Tata Motors and Reliance Industries were most active shares on exchanges. In the midcap space, GSFC, SKS Microfinance, Whirlpool, GNFC and Motherson Sumi rallied 3.5-6%. However, HDIL, MTNL, Indiabulls Real, IFCI and SpiceJet fell 4-6%. Gold futures hit fresh peak of Rs 29,091 per 10 grams on the MCX. In the international market, it was trading above USD 1900 an ounce. At 10:49 hours IST : Nifty down to 4950; gold at record high of Rs 28,649/10gm The Sensex has fallen over 180 points as inverstors sold off banking and technology stocks. Realty, metal, ADAG and infrastructure stocks too were under pressure. The 50-share NSE Nifty was trading at 4,953, down 64 points and the 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 189 points to 16,524.  Heavyweights Reliance Industries and Bharti Airtel fell 1.4% and 3%, respectively. Major stocks in the banking space crashed - SBI and ICICI Bank were down 3% each. HDFC Bank, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank lost nearly 2%. Realty major DLF went down over 4.5%. In the technology space, Wipro, TCS and Infosys slipped more than 1.5%. Among other largecaps, L&T, NTPC and Power Grid declined 1-2%. However, ONGC and Ambuja Cements were moving up; both gained 1.5% each. M&M, Tata Motors, Maruti and BPCL moved up 1%. About two shares declined for every share gaining. Gold -- the safe haven commodity -- was trading above USD 1900 an ounce in the international market; jumped 2% to USD 1911 an ounce. On the MCX, gold hit a record level at Rs 28,649 per 10 grams. At 10:22 hours IST : Sensex sheds over 100 pts; tech, banks down Indian equities extended losses on the back of further fall in Asian markets. Nikkei, Kospi and Taiwan fell 2%; Straits Times was down over 1%. The 30-share BSE Sensex was trading at 16,591, down 122 points and the 50-share NSE Nifty dropped 41 points to 4,975. According to PN Vijay, portfolio manager, there is a need to feel nervous about the current market scenario.