Markets end higher led by RIL on robust Q1 earnings

Markets gained for the fifth straight session on Monday amid encouraging first quarter earnings from index heavyweights Reliance Industries and HDFC.

Meanwhile, the broader markets outperformed the benchmark indices with the Small-cap index gaining nearly 1 per cent as foreign institutional investors turned focus to the broader markets where valuations are seen reasonable at current levels.

The 30-share Sensex gained 73 points to end the session at 25,715 and the Nifty added 20 points to close at 7,684.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) who have pumped over $12 billion (Rs 70,276 crore) in Indian equities year-till-date (YTD), have increased their stake in more than 150 mid-and small-sized companies during the April - June 2014 quarter.

A bulk of their investment, nearly 50 per cent of inflow thus far, has been allocated to the mid-and small-caps in the June quarter.

At 1550 hrs, the Indian rupee was trading close to Friday's close of Rs 60.28 tracking losses in the US dollar compared to other Asian currencies.

Sectors & Stocks Oil & Gas, Consumer Durables, Health Care and FMCG up 0.2-1 per cent were the only sectoral indices to close in green.

Reliance Industries came off its day's highs amid profit taking and closed up 2 per cent contributing the most to the Sensex gains.

The company reported a better-than-expected 14 per cent year on year jump in net profit at Rs 5,957 crore (Rs 59.57 billion) for the quarter ended June 30, 2014 (Q1).

Analysts on an average had expected profit of Rs 5,462 crore(Rs 54.62 billion) for the quarter.

The company had profit of Rs 5,237 crore in the same quarter last fiscal. Axis Bank was up 1 per cent at Rs 2,016 ahead of April-June (Q1) quarter earnings expected on Monday.

Other Sensex gainers include HDFC, ITC, HUL and TCS, up 1-2 per cent.

Among the ones in red were Tata Power, SBI and Gail India, all down 1.5-2 per cent. BHEL, Infosys, Sesa Sterlite, ONGC, NTPC and L&T which slipped 1 per cent each were the other prominent losers.

The market breadth was positive on BSE, thanks to the strength in broader markets. 1,700 stocks advanced while 1,258 stocks declined.

Among other shares, Tata Metaliks moved higher by 10 per cent to Rs 113, also its 52-week high on BSE, after reporting a robust consolidated net profit of Rs 34.32 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2014 (Q1), on back of strong operational performance.

The Tata Group firm had net loss of Rs 13.21 crore during the same quarter last fiscal.

Greenply Industries surged nearly 12 per cent to Rs 900, extending its Friday rally which was triggered after the company posted robust Q1 results. Multi Commodity Exchange surged 8 per cent to Rs 847 after Financial Technologies announced that it has entered into a share purchase agreement to sell its 15 per cent stake in MCX to Kotak Mahindra Bank for Rs 459 crore (Rs 4.59 billion).

Meanwhile, Financial Technologies gained 2.5 per cent.

Suzlon Energy rose 5 per cent to Rs 26 on the reports following government's move to re-introduce the accelerated depreciation scheme for the wind energy sector.

Global Markets Most Asian stock markets edged higher on Monday as investors set aside geopolitical concerns for the moment to focus on the generally upbeat flow of US corporate earnings ahead of a host of results due this week.

Volumes were very light as Japanese markets took a holiday.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.3 per cent, with modest increases for most markets across Asia.

European shares were also trading with marginal losses as the geopolitical tensions in Ukraine continued to weigh on investor sentiment..

All the major markets were weak with CAC, DAX and FTSE down 0.3-1 per cent.