Sensex up 273 pts, Nifty ends above 8800 for 1st time ever

Moneycontrol Bureau

03:30pm Market Closing

The market rallied for the seventh consecutive session on Friday, spiking nearly 2000 points on the Sensex (in seven days). The Sensex today gained 272.82 points or 0.94 percent at 29278.84 and the Nifty jumped 60.15 points or 0.69 percent to 8821.55 on ECB stimulus.

About 1140 shares have advanced, 1803 shares declined, and 253 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

Tata Power saw huge buying interest in late trade, up nearly 7 percent. Tata Motors and Bharti Airtel rallied close to 4 percent. DLF spiked 5.5 percent, and Cairn India jumped over 4 percent on rise in crude oil prices.

Cipla, L&T, HDFC Bank, HUL, M&M and Sesa Sterlite gained 2-3 percent whereas PNB, GAIL, BHEL, HCL Technologies and ONGC were down 1-2.7 percent.

03:15pm Atul under pressure

Atul has registered a 17.6 percent drop in its third quarter net profit at Rs 53.7 crore against Rs 65.2 crore in the same quarter last year. The stock lost 5 percent.

Net sales of the chemical company were up 7.2 percent at Rs 617.2 crore versus Rs 575.8 crore during the same period

Operating profit grew 20 percent to Rs 84 crore from Rs 65 crore and margin jumped 150 bps to 13.7 percent versus 12.2 percent on yearly basis. Its other income was down at Rs 4 crore versus Rs 20 crore.

03:00pm Market Update

The market extended gains as the Sensex surged 294.44 points or 1.02 percent to  29300.46 and the Nifty climbed 77.65 points or 0.89 percent to 8839.05.

Tata Power topped the buying list, up 7 percent followed by Tata Motors and Bharti Airtel with 4 percent rally. HDFC Bank, L&T, HUL, M&M and Cipla surged 2-3 percent.

02:30pm Interview

Johnson Controls and Hitachi, and Hitachi Appliances Inc., has signed an agreement to form a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HAVC) joint venture (JV).

Speaking about the JV, Gurmeet Singh, Executive Director-Sales, Marketing & BP, Hitachi Home & Life Solutions said 100 percent of the HHIL business would be incorporated in the global Joint venture.

The JV will benefit both Johnson Controls and Hitachi with each other sharing their expertise because each manufactures different products, said Singh.

Citing no further clarity, he declined to comment on whether HHIL would go through on open offer or would be delisted.

The JV he said is likely to be formalised by the end of 2015.

02:00pm Market Check

The market continued its upward momentum in afternoon trade as the ECB’s 1.1 trillion euro quantitative easing program helped frontline indices trade nearly a percent higher, though there is profit taking at higher levels. Bank Nifty traded above 20,000 for the first time, up 158 points at 20,075.

The 30-share BSE Sensex advanced 253.02 points to 29259.04 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 67.65 points to 8829.05. The market breadth remained negative as about 1061 shares advanced and 1767 shares declined on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Saurabh Mukherjea of Ambit says global cues may not be uniformly positive. A majority for the anti-austerity Syriza party in the Greek elections over the weekend can hurt sentiment. But Ambit maintains its 30,000 Sensex target by March 2015 and 36,000 by March 2016.

European markets remained firm as France's CAC and Germany's DAX climbed over a percent on ECB stimulus. Britain's FTSE gained 0.6 percent while Asian markets closed higher with the Japan rising to a near three week highs and the Kospi climbing to 4-week highs. Brent crude oil prices recovered marginally as news of the death of Saudi Arabia's king Abdullah added to uncertainty in energy markets.

The rupee appreciated against the dollar, up 19 paise to 61.50 on dollar selling by exporters amid sustained capital inflows. Soaring domestic equity markets also supported the rupee.