Sensex ends near 24,400 led by IT shares

Benchmark indices ended marginally positive amid range bound trades as gains in IT and index heavyweight shares like ITC and HDFC helped offset losses in oil shares.

The Sensex ended at 24,377, gaining marginally by 14 points and the Nifty closed at 7,276, up 12 points.

The broader markets outperformed the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices surged between 2-3 per cent.

The market breadth in BSE ended firm with 2,140 shares advancing and 747 shares declining.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1350.04 crore (Rs 13 billion) on Monday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.  

Expert view

According to Chandan Taparia, Derivative Analyst, Anand Rathi Financial Services, “After the strong run up now market is taking a pause and hovering near to 7300 levels. Option concentration scattered at different strikes as participants initiated strategies by using different strikes. Maximum put open interest is at 7000 strike and now that is likely to act as a major medium term support base. Nifty is up by around 6 per cent in this series and higher from its monthly vwap - volume weight age average of 7025 levels. So if manages to hold then towards the expiry week short covering move may take it to higher levels. Nifty spot has immediate support at around 7130 then 7080 & 7000, on upside hurdle at 7350 then 7450 to 7500 zone.”

Global markets

Asian shares slipped on Tuesday despite a solid performance on Wall Street, while the dollar wallowed close to its lowest level against the yen in more than three months.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped about 0.3 per cent. But Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock average bucked the downtrend and tracked overnight gains on Wall Street, ending up 0.5 per cent and breaking a four-session losing streak.

European shares which had earlier opened higher on expectation of easy monetary policies from the European Central Bank pared gains and were trading with marginal losses as investors turned cautious and booked profits. The CAC, DAX and FTSE were down 0.3-0.5 per cent each.

Rupee

The rupee fell to 58.70 versus its previous close of 58.59/60, en route to snapping a four-session winning streak, as a large state-owned bank is said to be buying dollars to meet demand for oil companies.

Sectoral indices

BSE Realty index zoomed nearly 5 per cent followed by counters like Consumer Durables, Metal, IT, Healthcare and Power, all gaining between 1-2 per cent. BSE Oil & Gas and BSE Bankex slipped between 1-3 per cent.

Gainers and losers

Real estate and infrastructure company shares rallied by up to 20 per cent on the back of heavy volumes on expectations of change in policy environment.

Unity Infrasprojects, Lanco Infratech, IL&FS Engineering and Constructions, Unitech, Oberoi Realty, Housing Development and Infrastructure (HDIL), Ansal Properties, Man Infraconstructions and Kolte Patil Developers rallied more than 10 per cent each on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

Shares of metal companies ended firm with the S&P BSE Metal Index hitting a two-year high today. In past three trading sessions, the index has rallied 10 per cent as against 2 per cent rise in benchmark index.

Tata Steel, Sesa Sterlite, Steel Authority of India (SAIL), NMDC, Hindalco Industries and Hindustan Zinc gained between 2-8 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

Stocks of consumer durables goods seem to be on the investors' radar on hopes of an uptick in demand with the BJP-led NDA government promising to unveil reforms to boost economic growth.

Gitanjali Gems, PC Jeweller, VIP Industries, Videocon, Blue Star and Titan surged between 2-10 per cent.

Tata Communications rallied nearly 10 per cent to Rs 334 after the company said it has sealed a deal to sell its 67.3 per cent stake in Neotel, its South African unit, for seven billion rand (Rs 3,950 crore) to Vodacom, a subsidiary of British telecom company Vodafone.

IT exporters firmed up after the rupee weakened against the US dollar. A depreciating rupee augurs well for these companies as over 80 per cent of their revenues come from exports to the US. Infosys, TCS and Wipro gained 1-3 per cent contributing the most to the Sensex gains.

BHEL recovered from its early lows and ended up 3 per cent.

Index heavyweights, ITC, HDFC were up 1-2 per cent each.

In the oil sector, Reliance Industries and ONGC which had gained sharply in the previous few sessions witnessed profit and were both down over 3 per cent each.

On the losing side, Coal India shares, which rose 13 per cent yesterday, ended lower by 6.5 per cent, while ONGC slipped 4 per cent after gaining 8.5 per cent on Monday.

Whirlpool of India surged 5.65 per cent to Rs 273 after reporting a  44 per cent year on year (yoy) increase in net profit at Rs 35.55 crore ( Rs 350 million) for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2014 (Q4FY14).

Jubilant FoodWorks ended lower by 3.46 per cent at Rs 1,150 after reporting a 23.7 per cent year-on-year decline in net profit at Rs 24.95 crore (Rs 240 million) for the fourth quarter ended March 31 2014 (Q4FY14), due to higher raw material and employee costs.