Largecaps lift Nifty past 6000, Sensex rallies 215 points

Investors kept up their buying spree Tuesday, lifting benchmark indices to three month high, and pushing the Sensex closer to the psychological 20,000 mark. The Nifty closed above its key technical level of 6000, raising hopes this could encourage further buying.

Large cap shares were the flavour of the day, while buyers were choosy about midcaps and awaiting more clarity in terms of earnings.

The Sensex closed at 19888.95, up 215.21 points over the previous close. The Nifty rose 72.50 points to close at 6043.55.

FMCG, banking, auto and realty were the best performing sectors of the day, as the upbeat mood in global markets rubbed off on India as well.

Falling commodity prices, especially those of gold and oil, have been the key driver of the rally in Indian shares over the past three weeks. Foreign funds have net bought around Rs 2600 crore of Indian shares in the first two trading sessions of this month, compared to around Rs 5100 crore for the whole of last month.

"The market's love for 'quality' (defined as high ROE, low capex, low beta, high FCF and low financial gearing) is waning at the margin in favor of growth although the market is still not chasing beta," brokerage house Morgan Stanley said in its strategy note.

ITC, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries and Larsen & Toubro were the key gainers in the Sensex, rising between 1-3 percent.

Coal India, Wipro and Mahindra & Mahindra were the key laggards, down between 1-2 percent.

Brokers said the pace of the rally was surprising considering that the economy was yet to show any clear signs of recovery.

The HSBC Services Purchasing Managers' Index for India, based on a survey of around 400 companies, fell to 50.7 in April, its lowest since October 2011.

And while RBI cut repo rates by 25 basis points on Friday, it warned that risks from rising inflation and a widening current account deficit could limit further rate cuts.

Mphasis, M&M Financial Services, Century Textiles and Essar Oil were the big gainers among midcaps, up 6-10 percent.

It was a decisive breakout for the market as the Nifty rallied above 6000 to its highest levels since February 4, 2013. The Nifty was at 6038.80, up 67.75 points. The Sensex too clocked over 208.25 points to be at 19881.89

Rate sensitives and FMCG were the big winners in trade today. Some experts are saying it is a liquidity driven rally while others say it is heavyweight rally.

Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, Hero MotoCorp, ITC and Jindal Steel were the lead gainers of the day. IndusInd Bank surged 3.24 percent.

Meanwhile, Wipro, Coal India, Dr Reddy's Lab, M&M and Maruti were major losers in the Sensex.

Allahabad Bank (down 4.4 perent) shares nosedived on steep 69 percent fall in its profits to Rs 126 crore in the January-March quarter.

Indian shares were trading at three-month high led by heavy buying in FMCG, banks, pharma, realty and power stocks. Positive regional shares also lifted the sentiment after the S&P closed at fresh highs and Japan's Nikkei scaling to near five-year peak levels. FIIs record buying of shares in 2013 also boosted sentiment of traders on Dalal Street citing blue chip shares to perform well.

The Sensex was up 176 points at 19850 and the Nifty was up 57 points at 6028. About 1196 shares advanced, 988 shares declined, and 146 shares were unchanged.

Key gainers in the Nifty were Bharti Airtel, IndusInd Bank, DLF, Tata Motors and ITC, up between 2-4 percent.

Laggards included Coal India, Mahindra and Mahindra, BPCL, Dr Reddys Labs and Ambuja Cements.

Public sector lender Allahabad Bank disappointed the street with its fourth quarter (January-March) net profit falling by 68.5 percent year-on-year to Rs 126 crore, sending shares four percent lower.

Net interest margin of the bank declined 70 basis points quarter-on-quarter to 2.3 percent in the fourth quarter.

Shares of Dabur India, Glaxo SmithKline Pharma, IndusInd Bank, IPCA Labs, Lupin, Mphasis, MRF, Reliance Communications, Sun Pharma and United Spirits made fresh 52-week highs today.

The market was growing stable with the Nifty scaling 6000. The Nifty hit 3-month high as it touched 6023.10, surging 52.05 points. The Sensex was up 162.59 points at 19836.23.

Foreign investors have been bullish on India.  According to data compiled by Bloomberg, FIIs bought shares worth USD 196 million on May 3, taking their net investment in 2013 to USD 11.8 billion, a record for the period. Laurence Balanco of CLSA says that technicals suggest that the Nifty may test 6300 in the near-term but it is unlikely to break that level in the current quarter.

Banking, FMCG, realty and pharma stocks were lending support to the indices.

Stocks-wise, Tata Motors, Jindal Steel, Hero MotoCorp, ITC, and ICICI Bank were the lead gainers in the Sensex.

Meanwhile, Reliance Communications touched a 52-week high of Rs 113.50. The stock was seeing buyers' interest on reports that the company has increased some voice call prices and further cut discounts.

GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals surged 5.9 percent ahead of the company's January-March quarter earnings expected today.

Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) gained 3.84 percent after Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) relaxed norms for offer for sale of shares by promoters that will allow it to achieve the minimum level of public shareholding at 25 percent.

Coal India (down 1.9 percent) was under pressure. The govt is looking to sell 10 percent stake in the company and raise Rs 20,000 crore.

M&M, Wipro, Dr Reddy's Lab and Tata Steel dragged during the day.

The rupee was lower in trade pressured by weakness in the euro and rise in crude prices.

Key equity benchmarks were trading firm on Tuesday backed by record buying from foreign institutional investors (FIIs). According to data compiled by Bloomberg, FIIs bought shares worth USD 196 million on May 3, taking their net investment in 2013 to USD 11.8 billion, a record for the period.

The Sensex was up 112 points at 19786 and the Nifty was up 35 points at 6006. About 1012 shares advanced, 628 shares declined, and 108 shares were unchanged.

Key gainers in the Nifty were DLF, ICICI Bank, NTPC, Lupin and ITC, up over 1.5 percent each.

Laggards included Coal India, M&M, Power Grid, Ambuja Cements and HDFC, down between 0.6-2 percent.

DLF was up 2 percent as the company is planning to sell up to 81 million shares and has mandated eight banks for the institutional placement sale, according to a term sheet seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

Software service major Infosys is set to become the first out of the big five information technology (IT) software companies to enter education and training business. The stock was trading flat.

Emami reported a 30 percent growth in profits to Rs 94 crore while sales rose to over Rs 450 crore. The board also recommended a bonus issue in the ratio of 1:2. The stock was up 2.5 percent.

Den Networks was trading flat after the company raised USD 110 million via preferential issue yesterday.

The rupee today lost 18 paise to Rs 54.36 against the US dollar in early trade on the Interbank Foreign Exchange due to appreciation of the American currency against the euro overseas, reported PTI.

Brent futures slipped back towards USD 105 a barrel on Tuesday as investors saw the recent surge in prices as an opportunity to sell and book profits, with concerns of an escalation in tensions in the Middle East helping to stem losses, reported Reuters.

The market opened in the positive territory while the Nifty crawled itself to the psychological 6000-mark. The Nifty was up 35.60 points at 6006.65 while the Sensex gained 118.32 points to be at 19791.96. Buying interest was seen in all the indices.

Jindal Steel, NTPC, RIL, Hero MotoCorp and Hindalco were the early gainers in the Sensex.

The broader markets too were gathering steam as BSE Midcap index was up 0.5 percent.

Emami surged 2.9 percent as its January-March quarter consolidated net profit stood at Rs 94 crore while net sales was Rs 451 crore.

After hitting new 52-week high on Monday, Finolex Industries surged another 6.4 percent today. It reported a strong set fourth quarter earnings. The profits of PVC-U pipe manufacturer surged 41 percent year-on-year to Rs 79.3 crore during the quarter due to drop in finance cost. The interest cost slipped to Rs 8.17 crore from Rs 19.36 cror, a year earlier.

Meanwhile, Coal India, HDFC and M&M were the major losers in the Sensex.

GSK Pharma, Glenmark Pharma and UCO Bank are expected to announce January- March earnings today.