Closing Bell: Sensex up 257 pts, Nifty ends above 10,800 but market breadth in favour of bears

Podcast | An evening walk down Dalal Street: Nifty reclaims 10,800; ICICI, BPCL, Bajaj Finserv rose 3-6 percent for the week

Sectorally, the Nifty Bank closed 1.3 percent higher for the week, followed by the Nifty Metal index which rose 3.1 percent, and the Nifty PSU Bank index gained 2.8 percent.... Read More

Rupee Closing: The Indian rupee ended at 67.83 against the dollar, up 16 paise from previous close.

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) ministers have agreed in principle on 1 million barrels per day nominal output increase from July for the group and its allies, Reuters has reported citing sources.

The OPEC is meeting in Vienna together with non-OPEC oil producers to discuss output policy.

The near term trend of Nifty range bound with positive bias. One may expect some more upmove towards 10,900-10950 levels by next week, but the market sustaining the highs could be a great challenge ahead. There is a possibility of higher levels weakness during mid to later part of next week.

The daily timeframe chart is showing a range bound action with positive bias, but the overall chart pattern of weekly timeframe is signaling a weak upside strength and an instability of bulls at the higher levels.

Late rally in banks lift Sensex 257 pts, Nifty above 10,800; HDFC and Bajaj Fin twins lead

HDFC (up 2.6 percent), HDFC Bank (1.25 percent), Bajaj Finance (3.5 percent), ITC (1.65 percent), and Bajaj Finserv (3 percent) were leading contributors to the Nifty gains.... Read More

:"Over the last couple of months, there has been a clearpolarisationin terms of sectoral & stock performances. TheSensex& Nifty have remained strong on the back of few large cap stocks & market leaders seeing incremental flows & buying interest at the expense of mid & small sized companies, which have seen selling pressure,"DevangMehta, Head – Equity Advisory, Centrum Wealth Management toldMoneycontrol.

While markets have rewarded businesses which exhibit good earnings growth, the companies which have failed to deliver on promises have been punished, he said. "Valuations & price points in a lot of good stocks have started to look attractive & it is important to take advantage of the volatility for adding/accumulating robust businesses with good growth prospects."

: European markets were trading higher amid uncertainty over whether OPEC would manage to increase crude output at a meeting in Vienna later in the day. Britain's FTSE and France's CAC were up 0.7 percent at the time of writing this article.

Asian markets ended mixed following negative close on Wall Street. Investors remained concerns about the trade dispute between the US and China.

Brent crude and US oil futures traded higher by over a percent ahead of OPEC decision.

: Benchmark indices closed sharply higher led by recovery in the last hour of trade, backed by banking & financial stocks.

TheSensex gained 257.21 points at 35,689.60and the Nifty rose 80.80 points to 10,821.90.

Sun Pharma, Cipla, Dr Reddy's Labs, Bajaj Finance, Baja Finserv, M&M andIndiabulls Housing Finance rallied 2-5 percent.

HDFC, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, SBI, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, L&T and HUL gained 1-2.6 percent while RIL fell nearly 2 percent.

HPCLandUPLwere under pressure.

Nifty Midcap index gained 80 points.

Hexaware, Adani Transmission, United Spirits, Ujjivan Financial, IDBI Bank, Fortis Healthcare, Can Fin Homes, Jet Airways, InterGlobe Aviation, Infibeam, Jubilant Foodworks, Bombay Dyeing, Manappuram Finance and Havellsgained up to 8 percent.

NIIT Tech, Shree Renuka Sugars, Avant Feeds andPNBwere under pressure.

: The Indian rupee appreciated further in afternoon, rising 21 paise to 67.77 against the dollar, after increased selling of the US currency by exporters and banks.

: Benchmark indices extended rally in the last hour of trade with the Sensex rising 297.31 points to 35,729.70, backed by banking & financials, FMCG and pharma stocks.

The 50-share NSE Nifty rose 92.40 points to 10,833.50 while the Nifty Bank traded 300 points higher but the market breadth remained negative.

About 1,347 shares declined against 1,125 advancing shares on the BSE.

: Bajaj Finance (up 3.6 percent) overtook Axis Bank (up 2.5 percent) in terms of market capitalisation.

Bajaj Finance market cap stood at Rs 134,946.95 crore and Axis Bank Rs 134,790.92 crore.

Saudi Oil Minister Khalid Al-Falih said he proposed to increase oil supply by 1 mbpd. "1 mbpd supply will be distributed among nations based on their ability to produce."

Roughly 2/3rd supply increases will come from OPEC countries, he said, adding OPEC will meet again in September & make adjustments as needed.

He said no one should expect immediate flood of oil.

"We support increase of 1 mbpd or less if it supports the market," Kuwait Oil Minister Bakheet Al-Rashidi said.

Equity benchmarks are trading at the high points of the day, with the Nifty hitting 10,800-mark now. The Sensex is up over 100 points. Strong gains in financials, namely PSU banks, is aiding sentiment on D-Street. Sharp upmoves are visible in sectors such as pharma, FMCG, energy and infra names. Midcaps too have added to their gains, trading around quarter of a percent higher. Sun Pharma is leading the gainers chart on Sensex and Nifty, followed by Bajaj Finance and M&M, while Reliance, Wipro, and HPCL have lost the most.