Ambani truce bid, upbeat Aug IIP nos push Sensex above 17,000

The Nifty rallied over 100 points on the first day of the week and managed to recover 2/3rd of previous week's losses; it closed above the 5,050 level. Buying across the sectors helped the Sensex to stay above the 17,000 mark at close; technology, banking and oil & gas exploration were the leading stocks in today's trade.

August IIP (Index of Industrial Production) in double digit and Anil Ambani's attempt to end the tussle between both brothers helped the markets throughout the session.

The August IIP number has come in double-digits at 10.4% as against 7.2% last month. This high number could be a result of the low base effect set in August last year. M Govinda Rao, Director, NIPFP, expects industrial growth to now pick up. He sees the IIP figure clocking in above 10% through the rest of this year. He does not see any room for hardening of interest rates at this stage.

April to August industrial growth also improved to 5.8% versus 4.8% (YOY). In IIP internals, manufacturing output was up to 10.2% versus 1.7%, Mining at 12.9% versus 2.8%, Electricity at 10.6% versus 0.8%, basic goods at 10% versus 3.9% and Capital goods at 8.3% versus 0.9% (YOY).

In what could be an end to Ambani gas tussle, younger brother Anil Ambani had made public announcement on Sunday to reconcile and resolve issues with brother Mukesh Ambani. He believes disagreements can be sorted in a cordial manner. There is no better gift to their mother than the two brothers reconciling. Over past four years no stone has been left unturned to find a solution. In a response to that news, Reliance Industries surged 3.2% and Reliance Industrial Infrastructure up 3.5%.

In ADAG (Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group) pack, Reliance Capital was up 4.7%, Reliance Infrastructure up 5%, Reliance Natural Resources up 5.3% and Reliance Power up 2.6%. However, only Reliance Communication ended off day's low and was down just 0.62% post audited report.