Sensex rises snapping two-session losing streak; banks, auto gain

Markets scaled higher on the last day of November derivatives series due to strength in energy and metal shares. Meanwhile, the sentiment cheered on the D-Street on hopes of the passage of the crucial GST bill during the winter session of the Parliament.

A firm opening in the European market amid rising prospects of further easing by the European Central Bank at a policy meeting next week uplifted the mood.

The Sensex closed 183 points higher at 25,959 and the Nifty gained 52 points to end at 7,884.

Sun Pharma emerged as the stellar performer for the day as the shares of the drug maker surged 4% after it shelved plans to invest in wind energy project in the United States following investor concerns.

Meanwhile, Dr Reddy’s cracked 8% on reports that the USFDA might withhold approval of the company's fresh drugs and stop import if no corrective action is taken.

However, the company is in the process of responding to the warning letter issued on November 5 by the USFDA over quality control issues and other violations at three of its manufacturing facilities. Also, Lupin also dropped over 1%.

"Markets traded firm today, breaking a two session losing streak and ended in the green. Participants will now keenly watch out for the fate of key reform bills in the winter session of Parliament.

In that regard, optimism seemed to seep into the markets after the Finance Minister said that he has spoken to Congress leaders on the GST bill to break a deadlock in parliament and is optimistic that the key reform measure will be passed in the winter session that started today," said Shreyash Devalkar, Fund Manager – Equities, BNP Paribas Mutual Fund in a note.

BUZZING STOCKS

Some action was witnessed in the auto pack with Hero Motocorp recovering from its day’s low and ending over 1.5% after US private equity firm Bain Capital announced that it would be selling shares in Hero MotoCorp to raise as much as $116 million, or about Rs 769.72 crore.

Among its peers Tata Motors saw buying and jumped over 5% after Jaguar Land Rover announced doubling of capacity of its Midland-based engine manufacturing centre, with an investment of £450 million (Rs 4,500 crore).

M&M also followed the tandem and closed 2% higher on the launch of the automatic variant of the XUV5OO priced at Rs 15.36 lakh (ex-showroom, Navi Mumbai).

Videocon also gained ground after Videocon Telecommunications, a subsidiary of Videocon Industries, on Tuesday sold its spectrum in Gujarat and UP (West) circles to Aditya Birla group’s Idea Cellular at a valuation of Rs 3,310 crore. The stock surged 4%.

Meanwhile, Idea gained 5%. In the financial segment, shares of Axis Bank inched up on receiving in-principle approval from the RBI to set up and operate trade receivables discounting system (TReDS) for improving flow of funds to the MSME sector.

In addition, ICICI Bank and SBI added 0.3% each. Renewed buying interest was seen in the metal pack as the as copper prices jumped in global commodity markets. Tata Steel, Hindalco and Vedanta shot up between 0.5-2%.

Amid a firm rally, shares of liquor makers slumped on reports that Bihar may ban the sale of alcohol. Radico Khaitan and United Spirits dropped between 5% - 8%.