Sensex soars 374 pts, Nifty ends above 8200; banks stars

Moneycontrol Bureau

After a heady upswing, the market ended on a strong note. The Sensex ended up 373.62 points or 1.4 percent at 27251.10 and the Nifty was up 108.50 points or 1.3 percent at 8235.45.

The sharp volatility has not dampened investor sentiments still. Bharat Iyer of JP Morgan believes India hasn’t lost its star status permanently and FII money is just being rotated into other countries. In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Iyer says the equity market may correct further from its current levels but is unlikely to fall over 5 percent.

Meanwhile, HSBC downgraded Indian stocks to underweight from overweight, citing slowing earnings growth, little room for rate cuts and potential negative impact from an unusual weather due to El Nino. India remains one of the most over-owned market in Asia and the bank says the potential for more equity outflows has increased because foreign positions look stretched.

In trade today, bank stocks were stars with big gainers like Axis Bank, SBI and ICICI Bank. Bank Nifty ended up 2.6 percent from previous close. GAIL and M&M were other gainers in the Sensex.

Capital Goods, Oil & Gas, Auto and FMCG indices made superb rally through out the day. Hindalco ended with 3 percent loss as its subsidiary Novelis posted weak March quarter.  NTPC, Bharti Airtel, Coal India and Vedanta were other laggards in the Sensex. Dragged by slow growth in Q4, Lupin ended 4 percent down.

Midcaps outperformed as Dalmia Bharat, Indoco Remedies, Union Bank and MCX India rallied 7-10 percent.

About 1644 shares have advanced, 1061 shares declined, and 158 shares are unchanged.