Markets gain for 6th straight day; Sensex gains 184 points

Benchmark indices ended higher for the sixth straight session led by the gains in financials, information technology and select auto stocks on hopes that the government will give a strong thrust to the reform agenda in upcoming budget which along with benign inflation data may provide the cue to the central bank to cut key rates further.

The 30-share Sensex closed 184 points higher at 29,320 and the 50-share Nifty ended up 60 points at 8,869.

In the broader market, both the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices, up 0.9% and 1% each performed better the front-liners.

Market breadth in BSE ended positive with 1,630 advances against 1,287 declines.

Today, the Prime Minister called upon Indian industry and armed forces to develop their own capabilities in defence manufacturing and stop reliance on imports at the inauguration of Aero India 2015 at Yelahanka Air Force station in Bengaluru.

Defence stocks reacted positively to Prime Minister's 'Make in India' pitch in today's session and gained up to 20%.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors were net sellers in Indian equities worth Rs 183 crore on Monday, as per provisional stock exchange data.

Buzzing Stocks

9 of the 12 sectoral indices of BSE are in green. BSE Consumer Durables index, up 2%, was the top gainer followed by BSE Power and Capital Goods indices, up 1.4% and 1.3% each.

BSE Metal index, down 0.9% lost the most followed by BSE Oil & Gas index down 0.5%.

Financials gained in today’s session. HDFC gained around 3%, ICICI Bank ended up 1.2%, and HDFC Bank ended up 0.6%.

However, Axis Bank ended flat and SBI ended down 0.5%. Axis Bank has raised Senior Notes in international market worth $55 million under the Medium Term Note Programme through its Hong Kong branch.

A senior note is a debt security or bond that takes precedence over other unsecured notes and is thus relatively secure as it must be repaid in the event of bankruptcy while a a debt security or bond that usually matures in five to 10 years is called MTN.

ITC ended higher 0.3% extending its over 5% rally in past two days following the acquisition of the trademarks for 'Savlon' and 'Shower To Shower' in India from Johnson & Johnson for an undisclosed amount.

TCS has been recognised as a leader in Banking and Capital markets Application Outsourcing Services in Europe by leading advisory and research firm Everest Group. The stock ended up 2%. Wipro gained 1.4% and Infosys ended up 0.6%.

GAIL has fixed March 03, 2015 as the Record Date for the purpose of Payment of Interim Dividend. The stock ended up 0.6%.

NTPC has decided to invest approximately Rs 60,000 crore for executing green energy projects in the next five years as part of government's plans to provide thrust to clean electricity generation.

The stock ended up 0.6%.

M&M gained 1.4%. M&M has decided to recall all the XUV500 vehicles, manufactured on of before July 2014 for the up gradation of the side curtain airbag.

Tata Motors gained around 1.5% on reporting a marginal increase in global sales, including Jaguar Land Rover, at 80,499 units in January.

On the losing side, Hero Motocorp declined 5%. The Munjal family, the promoters of Hero MotoCorp, are selling part of their personal stake worth $300 million on Wednesday to invest in power and real estate sector.

As per terms of the transaction, the Rs 1860 crore deal offers 7 million shares at 3 to 5 per cent discount to Monday's share price.

Bharti Airtel declined 2.5%. It has launched its first pan-Africa customised 3G smartphone for $53, aiming to tap mobile data users.

Sesa Sterlite declined 3.5%. The company's subsidiary Bharat Aluminium Company won the Chotia coal block in Chhattisgarh for Rs 3,025 per tonne in coal-block auction.