Reliance Ind, TCS, HDFC drive Nifty to record closing high

Experts believe the market may continue to see uptrend going ahead if the government be able to get passed crucial bills.

With the Budget behind, investors are now looking forward to the Budget session in Parliament, where the government is expected to push through four crucial legislations, including insurance, coal mining and land acquisition, Deutsche Bank MD and head of research Abhay Laijawala told CNBC-TV18

He says investors are cautiously optimistic on India, adding the market is not looking expensive at 17x forward P/E.

Meanwhile, the Mining and Minerals Development and Regulation (MMDR) Amendment Bill has been passed in Lok Sabha today. The bill will pave the way for all mineral mines in the country to be allotted via auctions. The government also tabled the Insurance Laws Amendment Bill in the lower house.

Metals stocks like Sesa Sterlite, Jindal Steel and Hindalco gained 1-2 percent while insurance stocks also gained in trade, close on the heels of operationalising the 49 percent FDI hike in insurance.

Reliance Industries topped the buying list on Sensex, up 4.4 percent after CLSA recommended buying the stock in current weakness as the stock is at a discount to own as well as peer valuations. In other news, a media report suggested that LIC increased its stake in the petrochemical major by 2.1 percent.

IT major TCS surged 4 percent followed by Wipro with over a percent gain. HDFC gained 2 percent.

Sun Pharma was up 2 percent as the company’s subsidiary bought GSK's Opiates business in Australia. The transaction value is expected to be around USD 200 million. Analysts see the deal as a positive for Sun as margins are higher in controlled substances business. Rivals Cipla spiked 2 percent.

However, Coal India fell 3.9 percent due to adjustment for dividend (Rs 20.70 per share) announced last month. Axis Bank lost 2.3 percent on profit booking.

Mahindra & Mahindra disappointed the street with a 9.8 percent decline in February auto sales. Its tractor sales fell 35 percent. The stock declined 3.3 percent. TVS Motor bucked the trend, up 8 percent on reporting decent sales growth of 15 percent in a weak environment. Tata Motors was down 1.6 percent.

It was a mixed bag for global markets while Nasdaq conquered 5000 last night for the first time since year 2000. Asian markets like Shanghai (down 2.2 percent) and Hong Kong (down 0.7 percent) closed in the red while European markets were trading higher today as Spain announced a sharp drop in jobless claims adding to the cheer in Europe. France’s CAC, Germany’s DAX and Britain’s FTSE gained 0.2 percent each (at 16 hours IST).

Disclosure: Reliance Industries has acquired management control of Network18, which owns TV18 Broadcast and moneycontrol.com.